


children of the light and dark

by reyofdarkness (mitslits)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark!Kylo, F/M, Fade to Black, Light!Rey, Religious Themes, an unholy mash-up of canon and non, sun and moon au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-14 15:32:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16043348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitslits/pseuds/reyofdarkness
Summary: Long ago, there was Sun and there was Moon. A battle of cosmic proportions led them to split their souls and place parts of themselves in two humans: the Warrior of Light and the Warrior of Dark.Forever at odds, their souls have continued through the centuries until their power comes to be in the possession of a simple scavenger from Jakku and a legacy-burdened son who thinks destiny is all there is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i am very excited to be able to bring this to you all after so many months of working on it! i need to thank alexis and sarkany for beta'ing this in its most unpolished form (the horrors they saw) and briar and celia, the two lovely mods who had what was hopefully slight less horror to behold lol 
> 
> i hope y'all enjoy this!

_ Long ago, _ the storyteller began,  _ there was Sun and there was Moon. They lived among all of the peoples of all the planets, and they gave their light to everyone. The people loved Sun for she helped their crops to grow and them to see, and they basked in her light. _

_ But it was not so with Moon. For while she also gave her light, it was not as brilliant as her sister’s and could not drive away the darkness. Moon saw the love the people had for her sister and jealousy grew in her heart. Why should Sun get all the praise, all the gratitude? Was she not just as generous? _

_ Sun saw the anger growing within Moon and sought to placate her. She showed her the lovers that met under cover of darkness, the beasts that walked the earth only when Moon shone, but Moon would not be satisfied. _

_ Humanity would love her or despair. _

_ Seeing that Sun could not dissuade her sister from her path, she began to make plans of her own. She would not let humanity suffer for her sake. She could not. So Sun wrapped her arms around her sister and took her from the land below, dragging her into the sky where she could no longer hurt humanity. She sealed Moon away into the barren lands where no one lived, forever surrounded by the darkness that she had aligned herself with. _

_ Wracked with guilt for what she had been forced to do, Sun found she could not return to the planets and rule as she once had. If her sister had to remain in exile, then so would she. She took shelter on barren lands of her own, her spirit setting them alight with the brightest flame. In this way, she continued to shine on the people she so loved. _

_ Yet every night, Sun ceded control to her sister, both to let Moon shine and people rest. _

_ Ever resentful of her celestial prison, Moon split her spirit in two. She sent this new piece of her soul to the worlds below, infusing herself into a human, branding him with her mark. She turned the human into an agent of her will, forcing him to do her bidding. _

_ He cut down everyone in his path, working under cover of night to do his gruesome work. There were many who tried to stop him, but Moon did all in her power to protect him, providing him with the powers of the night to aid him. _

_ Horrified, Sun found she could no longer sit back and let things run their course. She divided her own soul and found a human agent to bind her spirit to, adding her mark and giving him all the powers of the light to combat her sister’s darkness. _

_ Thus bound, Sun’s Warrior sought out Moon’s, and the two of them fought night after night, day after day, razing everything around them to the ground. _

_ For years, they battled each other, and always it was to a draw. Neither the Warrior of Light nor the Warrior of Dark could gain the upper hand, and all the while, their human bodies grew older. _

_ One day, it came to pass that the body of the Warrior of Light failed. The human soul within died, and Sun’s soul could not survive in an empty husk. So it sought out another, one just born, the mark seeping into the newborn’s skin, untold power infusing its limbs. _

_ Left to his own devices, the Warrior of Dark began his reign of terror anew. But it was not long before his body, too, began to fail. Desperate to keep what little freedom was left to her, Moon found another soul to bind hers too, a newborn’s like her sister’s. _

_ The children grew, and as they grew, something within them called to one another. The first time they met, they were still young, and their battle led to nothing more than split knuckles and bruised skin. From then on, they threw themselves into training, neither of them understanding, but neither questioning. They knew their purpose, and they would do their best to fulfill it. _

_ So the cycle continued for centuries. _

_ The Warriors sought each other out, and when they were not fighting, each tried to fulfill their other purpose. The Warrior of Light became a protector of humanity even as the Warrior of Dark did what they could to destroy them. _

_ For many a year, things were at a draw between them. _

_ During one life cycle, the Warrior of Light took what time he could to build a temple to Sun. He built it half-open to the sky, a place for him to glorify the goddess whose spirit burned within him. There he sat and meditated, only leaving when he was called upon by those who the Warrior of Dark targeted. _

_ Infuriated by her inability to defeat her enemy, the Warrior of Dark followed the other back to his temple, certain not to be seen. She waited until the Warrior had settled in, closed his eyes, and then made to attack him. Yet as she stepped foot onto the stones of the Sun Temple, she found that her usual powers had deserted her. Moon had no place in her sister’s place of worship. Her Warrior discovered this too late. _

_ The Warrior of Light pierced her through the heart, and Moon’s scream was heard throughout the galaxy. As her body died, so too did Moon’s light. The dark of the night remained unbroken by her silver glow from then on; the only light at night was from the stars. _

_ Yet the soul is not as easy to destroy as the flesh, and Moon’s spirit passed on to another Warrior. This time, however, she was not concerned with the fate of humanity. She sought the light that had been taken from her, determined to steal Sun’s. _

_ And so the Warrior of Light went into hiding, forever pursued by the Warrior of Dark. This, however, was not was easy as the Warrior of Light would have supposed. There were those who feared him and the power he held. It wasn’t right, they said, that Moon’s light should be taken from her. They sided with the Warrior of Dark and helped her in her search. _

_ The Warrior of Dark welcomed their assistance. Slowly, she began to amass power, an Empire, all of them determined to restore the light of the moon. _

_ Those who remembered the legacy of the Warrior of Dark, the times when they had hunted humanity and slaughtered all those in their reach, rose up to defend the Warrior of Light. And so it stands today, with the Warrior of Light running, the Warrior of Dark ever in pursuit, humanity split between them. _

His tale finished, the storyteller fell silent, staring pensively into the flames of a roaring bonfire. Thus left to their own devices, the small circle of wanderers began to separate. Some fell to talking amongst themselves, others to eating, a few getting to their feet to begin their journeys home.

A small girl called Rey was among the latter. Eight years old, she ventured into the darkness on her own, clutching a hardened length of wood she liked to call a staff. She kicked at the sand as she shuffled onwards, scoffing at the storyteller’s words as they replayed in her mind. “Dumb story anyways,” she muttered to herself.

That’s all it was, after all, she thought, scratching at the rough cloth wrapped around her forearm. A story. The tiny black sun inked into her wrist meant nothing because none of that was real, no matter how much some people believed in it. Rey knew better than that.

She squinted up at the obsidian sky, broken only by pinpricks of stars. If there ever had been such thing as a moon, there was no sign of it now.

Rolling her eyes, Rey turned back to the desert—and froze.

A dark figure stood nearby, a boy on the cusp of manhood, judging by his features. Black hair hid his face, black robes his body.

Rey tightened her grip on her staff, but by the time she’d brought it to the ready, he was gone. Puzzled, she peered into the shadows, trying to figure out where he’d disappeared to. Closer inspection revealed nothing but dunes of rolling sand. Rey cast a glance back over her shoulder at the few figures still illuminated by the firelight. It must have been a trick of the flames, she decided.

Still, Rey didn’t let go of her staff the whole way home. And she might have walked a bit faster than usual.

-

Years went by in a blur of familiarity, a routine that was necessary more than comforting. Rey woke to the heat, spent her days trawling through the sand for what others might find useful. When she managed to find more than just scraps, she made her way to Unkar Plutt. He was a foul, unpleasant creature, but then, little on Jakku was pleasant.

Sometimes, what Rey found was enough to fill her stomach for a day or two. More often than not, she went hungry, curling up on the cloth-covered wooden frame that served as a bed in her ramshackle hut. On nights like those, she stared at the marks on her wall, each of them representing one more day in an endless cycle. She didn’t know why she bothered to mark them anymore. Their original purpose had faded into irrelevance: a calendar to mark distance that would only grow, never close.

Tonight was one such night.

Rey’s growling stomach had woken her; now, it kept her from falling back to sleep. She wrapped one arm loosely around it and stared at one of the blank walls. The as-yet-unmarked metal stared back at her, mocking in its surety that it would soon bear the signs of her parents’ betrayal.

With a huff, she flipped herself over. She could still feel the wall at her back, but she squeezed her eyes shut, pretending she couldn’t. Her stomach squirmed inside her, demanding food she couldn’t provide, and she tightened her hold around it. When it growled again, she opened her eyes with a groan and stared into the shadows as if they could help her.

As she peered into the blackness, it almost seemed to move. Rey knew it was nothing, just a shifting trick of what little light played through the gaps in her makeshift hovel, but she couldn’t help but remember the night of the bonfire so many years ago. Couldn’t help but wonder if the boy she’d seen back then was hiding somewhere in this darkness too.

Even knowing it was ridiculous, Rey levered herself slowly into a sitting position. She stared into the dark corner, leaned forward a bit, scooted to the end of her bed. Blood roared in her ears as she stared harder, half-convinced she would see him after all, the outline of a pale face, eyes glinting in the night. She leaned farther, farther, until she overbalanced and tumbled off the end of her bed with a yelp.

She lay in a heap on the floor, scoffing at her own paranoia. Of course there was no one waiting in the shadows. It had been nothing more than her imagination that night; she should have known better. Internally berating herself for being an idiot, she crawled back onto her bed and settled on her back, draping one arm over her forehead and staring through a gap in the metal at the stars.

After a moment, Rey lifted her arm, tugging at the bindings she always wore around her wrist. She unwound it just enough to see the small mark of the sun sitting on her wrist. The sign of the Warrior of Light, if the old storyteller was to be believed.

Rey made a face. Some Warrior. She couldn’t even keep herself fed. She rewrapped her wrist, obscuring the mark once more. Then, knowing it was a futile effort but not even caring, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

The next day was hellish. Tired and hungry, Rey emerged from her shelter into an almost unbearable heat. She began to sweat just standing there, the sand dunes shimmering under the sun. Scowling, she glared up at the yellow-haze sky, squinting through the haze.

Scavenging seemed far from appealing, but it was either stay shut up in her shack and starve or find something and eat. Rey made her way to the wreckage of an old Empire ship she’d been lucky enough to find. At first, it had taken some trial and error to get into its innards, but she was used to it by now and quickly shimmied inside before anyone had a chance of seeing her. This was her place. Even if she hadn’t found much that was salvage-worthy yet.

The darkened interior provided blessed relief from the sun. Rey stopped inside, taking a moment to catch her breath and enjoy the shade. Sharp pains in her stomach soon goaded her into action, though, and she set to work scouring the ship for anything that could be useful.

Rey hit paydirt suspended from a rope, spread-eagled on what had once been the ship’s bridge. Somehow—and she wasn’t going to try to figure out how—a piece of the engine had lodged itself into the crack between two disjointed floor panels. They must have shifted in the crash, created a small pocket no one else had ever found.

Rey studied the hunk of metal intently, not that it mattered much what it was. Any engine parts were valuable, at least in Plutt’s mind.

She stuffed it in her sack with the rest of her haul and began the laborious process of climbing back to the surface.

By the time she reached the sands above, she was sweating, even with the relatively cool interior of the ship. Rey scrubbed at her brow, not looking forward to dealing with Plutt. But her stomach was practically eating itself at this point, so she swung herself onto her speeder and gunned it.

It took a bit of work for Rey to get the pieces polished up as she paid special attention to the chunk of engine, but she bent to the task with a steely determination. She wasn’t going to give Plutt any reason to stiff her.

When they gleamed to her satisfaction, Rey gathered everything up and took it to Plutt’s station.

“And what have we here?” he rumbled, sorting through her pile of parts with an appraising eye.

Rey said nothing, keeping her hands clasped behind her back to hide how they trembled in anticipation. She prayed her stomach wouldn’t growl and let Plutt know how desperate she was. He had enough power over her already.

Plutt came to the piece of the engine and made a noise that sounded something like satisfaction. “Would you look at this? Empire tech. And from an engine too.” Keeping it clutched in his hand, he leaned forward and dragged his eyes over Rey. “Where did you find this?”

Fighting to keep from shuddering under his scrutiny, Rey shrugged one shoulder. “Does it matter? It’s yours now.” Or at least it would be, when he gave her what she was owed for such a prize.

Rumbling with graveled laughter, Plutt leaned back and stashed the part. “Two portions,” he said.

Rey’s jaw dropped, anger flaring within her. “What? That’s worth five at least!”

Plutt blinked impassively back at her, not seeming in the least inclined to reconsider. “Could make it half a portion if I wanted to. Two is plenty.”

Not to Rey. Abandoning all sense of caution, she launched herself at the counter separating her from Plutt, grasping hands reaching for her engine part. If he wasn’t going to give her what it was worth, he wasn’t going to have it at all. Her hand wrapped around the hunk of metal and she clamped down on it, determined not to let it go.

Plutt’s surprise at Rey’s sudden rescue attempt evaporated quickly, and he snatched at her wrist. “Kriffing desert rat,” he growled, fingers digging into the bindings wrapped around her wrist.

“Let me go,” Rey hissed, struggling to free herself. She tightened her grip on the scrap metal and struck out at Plutt with her free hand. “Get off!”

No one in the long line of scavengers made a move to help her. Some of them shuffled in nervous excitement, while others blinked dully, as if they’d seen this sort of display before and knew exactly how it ended.

“Give it back,” Plutt bellowed. He pried at Rey’s fingers with his free hand, seemingly oblivious to her flailing punches.

Rey only gritted her teeth and scowled. Plutt was far too strong for her to beat him, but if she could get away, if she could run… Rey planted her feet against the counter separating her from Plutt and threw herself backwards.

Her arm felt like it was being ripped from its socket, but she could feel Plutt’s grip slipping. She pulled again, straining back as far as she could, fist still closed around the chunk of engine. Just when she thought her arm really was going to be ripped off, she slipped free, bindings shredding in Plutt’s grasp.

White cloth fluttering down around her, Rey toppled backwards onto the sand.

Immediately, whispers sprang up around her, a ripple of shock running through the line of scavengers behind her.

It was then Rey realized the mark on her wrist, the small sun, was bare to the world. Quickly, she clutched her arm to her chest, panting.  _ It doesn’t mean anything, _ she wanted to say.  _ It’s just a story. All of it is just a story. _ But the way they were looking at her, the way they drew back as if her very presence was poison, stuck the words in her throat.

Without a backward glance, Rey took off, the engine part still clutched in her hand. She shoved her way through the crowds outside Plutt’s tent, stumbling towards her speeder. As soon as she reached it, she fired it up and raced off across the sands.

Only when she had put a reasonable distance between her and Plutt did she risk a glance back over her shoulder. To her relief, there was no sign of pursuit. Maybe the crowd hadn’t been as stunned as she’d thought. Maybe they knew none of it was real.

She didn’t slow until her hut was in sight. The black mark of the sun gleamed on her wrist.

-

Plutt turned his back on his waiting scavengers, rubbing at his chin. Of all the places in the galaxy, of all the people in it, who would have suspected some filthy guttersnipe like Rey? But it wasn’t his place to question how or why the mark was there. All he had to do was report it. He picked up a comm, home-made, a fact of which he was damn proud, and tuned into the Empire’s frequency.

A voice came in, static and clinical. “This had better be important, Plutt.”

“Too important for some low-life,” Plutt said, smirking to himself. “Get me Hux.”

The voice on the other end scoffed. “I’m not bothering the general with every petty-minded desert dweller who’s seen a mirage. Tell me what you have, or I’m switching off.”

Plutt’s smirk only grew. “A girl,” he said. “With a very important tattoo.”


	2. Chapter 2

Smoke rolled heavy over the water, curling around the edges of the pool. The room was swathed in shadow and encased in stone walls. A skylight in the roof, once meant to let in the light of the moon, let in the dim light of the stars. Their glow sparked off the water.

A man stood at the edge of the pool, dark hair just brushing pale shoulders, his face outlined in an eerie glow. Silver paint spiraled up his arms, down his bare chest, and spilled down to his feet.

“Are you ready?” a woman—her fingertips coated in the same silver paint—asked. Her voice was low, barely more than a whisper, but still it echoed around the room. Her hand rested in the small of his back where she’d just finished painting the last symbol, the mark for luck.

Kylo sucked in a deep breath before nodding. He stepped forward into the smoke-covered water. It lapped at him eagerly, as if it had been waiting to pull him in.

Kylo didn’t resist, just lowered himself further into the pool. When the water licked at his hips, he stopped. Tipping his head back, he stared at the window in the ceiling, half hoping to see the moon peering back down at him. Nothing was there but the same blackness as always. Sighing, he closed his eyes and lay back, letting the water cushion him.

Phasma slipped into the pool behind him, a length of black silk in her hands. “Breathe,” she reminded him. “Concentrate. Find her.” With that, she slipped the silk over his eyes, tying it around his head and plunging him into darkness.

Kylo let out a long, slow breath and gave himself to the darkness. As he did, he forgot Phasma’s lingering presence, forgot the feeling of silk against his skin, forgot everything but the glimpse of a girl he’d seen all those years ago. It was infuriating, that flash of brown hair and fire-licked skin. She was the other Warrior. She had to be. Nothing else could account for the inexplicable pull he’d felt when he’d seen her.

But it had only been that glimpse, years ago. Kylo had never seen her again, and he doubted she’d seen him either. He’d felt her, though, her presence seeping in during quiet moments. Sometimes, in his bed at night, he could have sworn he’d heard her heartbeat. Every time he looked, there was nothing but empty space in an empty room.

Kylo concentrated on the image of her he still held in his head. She would be older now, he knew, and he tried to imagine her as the young woman she would have become. He focused on the wisp-thin thread between them, tried to pull her surroundings into view. He’d not been able to see them before. Just her. Now he willed them into being, but they refused to be anything more than murky, as they always were.

Sand, perhaps? Or was it gravel? Was that a dune behind her or a mountain?

Kylo gritted his teeth and pushed harder, straining his eyes against the blackness.

-

Finn stood with his back straight, eyes front, the very picture of an obedient stormtrooper. He’d had years to perfect the act, but there were times where it was hard to resist what seemed like such a good opportunity. The Warrior of Dark was in the room just behind him, alone except for Phasma. All it would take was one well-placed blast from a laser, and all this could end.

Or so it seemed. Perhaps the rumors were true, and the Warriors were invincible to everyone but each other. Still, it seemed lunacy to not even try. There was a chance, no matter how slim, that he could stop this interminable hunt.

Almost unconsciously, Finn tightened his finger around the grip of his blaster. Just one bolt…

The sound of rapid footsteps in the corridor ahead brought him back to himself. He relaxed his hold on his gun just as an officer rounded the corner. Finn snapped a hasty salute, doing his best to look respectable. Officer Mitaka acknowledged him with a nod and made for the entrance to the cave-like chamber.

At least, he would have, if Finn hadn’t stepped in his way. “Sorry, sir, but the Warrior asked not to be disturbed.” He grimaced apologetically, a habit of deference that couldn’t even be seen behind his helmet.

Officer Mitaka pursed his lips. “Normally, I wouldn’t try. But he would want to be disturbed with this.”

Finn stood his ground. It wasn’t as difficult to play a stormtrooper as one might have thought. All he had to do was mindlessly follow orders, and no one gave him a second look. “I can’t let you through,” he said, hefting his blaster just enough to get his meaning across.

Eyes narrowed, Mitaka took another step forward.

Before Finn had to decide whether or not he really was going to raise his weapon against a superior, Hux came striding up. “Put that thing away,” he snapped, nodding at the blaster. “The Warrior is going to want to hear what I have to say.”

Hux might have missed the barely suppressed glare Mitaka shot his way, but Finn caught it and filed it away to mull over later. He was sure he could find some way to use a little dissension in the ranks to his advantage.

Obediently, Finn stepped aside.

Hux swept past him as if he were no more animate than the walls of the ship and disappeared into the chamber.

-

Voices, blurry in his ears, brought Kylo out of his trance. He ripped the blindfold off and got to his feet, hair plastered to his face. Water ran down his body in rivulets, streaking what paint was left after his time in the pool.

Phasma and Hux stood near the entrance, arguing heatedly. Phasma, insistent that even the great and mighty Hux wasn’t allowed in, Hux equally insistent that she step aside. Both of them looked to Kylo as he splashed out of the water and flung the blindfold aside.

“What part of ‘don’t disturb me’ is so difficult to understand?” he growled, glowering at Hux.

Looking not-at-all-apologetic, Hux lifted his chin. “Apologies, Warrior. I thought you might appreciate this interruption.”

Kylo arched an eyebrow, a silent invitation to continue.

“We’ve just received word from our informant on Jakku, Plutt. There’s a girl there. She has the mark of the sun on her wrist.”

Kylo glanced down at the mark on his own wrist, a crescent of a moon, and stilled. “You’re certain?” he asked, voice sharp as black glass.

“Our informants know better than to lie,” Hux said.

Another moment passed before Kylo jumped into action. He threw on his cowl heedless of the paint and the water still dripping down his body. “Then we make for Jakku,” he said. “And the Maker have mercy on Plutt if he’s wrong.”

-

Finn hurried back to his post, heart pounding in his chest. He assumed his position right as Kylo hurried out, Hux and Phasma on his heels. He’d never been so grateful for the helmet that shielded his emotions from the rest of the world. Horror and excitement traded places with each other, traces of both shining in his eyes.

Finally, the Warrior had been found. It was everything the Rebellion had hoped for, the one thing that could give them a chance of winning against the darkness that had slowly been overtaking their world. But now Kylo Ren knew about her, and Finn had little doubt what would happen to the Warrior if Kylo found her first.

There wasn’t time to get a message to the Rebellion, let alone time for them to reach Jakku before the Empire. Right now, the only person in the world who could possibly help the Warrior of Light was a nameless, faceless stormtrooper. And he had no idea what to do.

First order of business: get to Jakku. Yes, he would still have to find the Warrior even though he had no idea what she looked like. Yes, he would still have to find some way to get them to the Rebellion even if he did manage to find her first. And yes, he was quietly panicking, but he didn’t have time to think about any of that. The Empire would reach Jakku all too soon, and Kylo was the only one of them who had a chance of identifying the Warrior on sight.

So Finn traded his stormtrooper’s white armor for a fighter pilot’s black counterpart. A fighter pilot he was not, but thankfully one of them was around his size, and he found an outfit that fit well enough that no one would ask questions. The weight of it was different from the light, flexible panels of the trooper gear, and he found himself wondering how he was going to fly in the thing.

Actually, he had no idea how he was going to fly at all. He’d not been a pilot before he’d infiltrated the Empire, and stormtroopers had no need to fly.

Squaring his shoulders and trying his best to seem like he knew what he was doing, Finn made his way to the flight deck. He forced himself not to salute every time he saw an officer; pilots were just a little higher up on the ladder than he was used to.

He made it to the flight deck without incident and was left staring dumbly at the row of TIE fighters before him.

The deck was alive with activity as pilots and techs got their vessels ready to deploy. No one knew what kind of resistance they would meet on Jakku. No one but Finn. The Empire was preparing for a defense that wouldn’t be there. Not that he was about to tell them that.

“Hey, you!” a voice interrupted his train of thought.

His head swiveled toward the source, a harried-looking technician fighting with a rat’s nest of tubing. “What are you doing just standing around?” the tech asked. “Get to your ship! The Warrior wants us ready to go as soon as we enter Jakku’s atmosphere.”

Unsure of the appropriate response in such a situation, Finn fell back on what he was used to: deference. “Yes, sir,” he said before he could think about the fact that this was just a lowly tech. Probably not someone used to being called “sir.”

The tech just rolled his eyes and went back to wrestling with his tubing.

Finn hurried away, scanning the deck for a TIE that didn’t look like it had already been claimed. Several of them already had pilots in their cockpits, and he steered well away from them, as if the pilots would be able to sense that he wasn’t really one of them.

Eventually, near the back of the hangar, he spotted one that had yet to find its captain. He made a beeline for it, scrambling in and closing the doors before anyone could question him.

When he was firmly seated, Finn looked at the controls. Studied them. Bent closer and examined them with the kind of scrutiny that could only come from a stormtrooper who’d never piloted a thing in his entire life.

With a hiss, the bay doors began opening, and the flight deck came to life. Pilots started up their TIEs—and with a burst of horror, Finn saw someone heading straight for his ship. It could only be the real pilot.

“Okay,” Finn told himself, straightening up in his seat and wrapping his hands around the controls. “Here goes nothing.” Without giving himself a chance to think about it, he started pressing buttons. Nothing happened.

The ship’s pilot got closer and closer, his pace increasing when he realized there was already somebody in the cockpit.

“You got this,” Finn muttered to himself. “Don’t think about the pilot.” He pushed another button. “Don’t think about how you don’t know what you’re doing.” Tried flipping a switch. “Don’t think about any of that because you’ve. Got. This.” He found a small, black case and flipped it open to reveal the ignition button. Finn slammed it.

The ship roared to life under him, the pilot shouting now, running at him and waving his arms.

Other members of the flight crew were beginning to take notice.

If Finn was going to get out of there unscathed, he needed to do it then. With a whoop of pure adrenaline, he threw the joysticks forward.

The TIE broke free from its moorings with an ominous snapping sound and went hurtling across the flight deck. Technicians and those few pilots who hadn’t managed to get to their ships yet dove for cover behind anything they could find. Sparks flew as metal scraped against metal, the other fighters desperately trying to save their own ships.

The noise was horrendous, and Finn began to fear that he was going to tear his ship apart before he even got into space. His fears seemed unfounded as he got closer and closer to the bay doors — when his ship came to a juddering halt.

“Oh, come on!” Finn glanced wildly out of the windows until he spotted the problem. One of the wings had snagged on another ship and was stuck fast.

Finn jerked his joystick back and forth, wild with desperation. He was rapidly running out of time; he knew that much by the way the other pilots were beginning to swivel their guns his way. If he didn’t hurry, he was going to find out what it felt like to be on the receiving end of the Empire’s considerable firepower.  

Fortunately, Finn managed to tear his fighter free. Unfortunately, he managed to do so by leaving half of it behind. Thus crippled, his fighter lurched its way out of the hangar, through the bay doors, and into the vastness of space with two engines, one and a half wings, and one terrified not-pilot who was about to find out what a crash landing felt like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got some really awesome fanart of this kylo from the incomparable Simona! check out more of her art on her [tumblr](https://spiegatrixlestrange.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

Rey sat on the edge of her bed and, as she had done so often before, stared into the shadows. What was she expecting? That shady figure from her past to magically appear just because some mark had been shown off to a few people? She was only kidding herself.

With a sigh, Rey threw herself back onto her bed. Mistakes had most definitely been made. She’d just cut off the only source of portions she was likely to find. Permanently. At this rate, she wouldn’t have to worry about any legendary Warrior coming to hunt her down. She’d starve to death before he got there. Maybe if she went back and begged, Plutt would let her do business with him again. He’d like that, Rey down on her knees, pleading with him not to let her die. Slimy bastard.

A sound outside roused her from her prone position; instantly, she was on high alert. She wouldn’t forget how the motley collection in Plutt’s tent had looked at her when they’d seen the mark on her wrist.  If one of them had gotten it into their heads that she actually had anything to do with the warriors, they might think she was some sort of valuable. Rey was all too aware of how desperate scavengers could become.

Moving silently, she grabbed her staff and crept toward the cloth-barricaded entrance of her little hut.

There was a loud clanging noise, quickly followed by a muffled curse. A second later, a shadow fell across the cloth.

Rey gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her staff. Pressing herself to the metal right next to the entrance, she braced herself for the intruder’s entry.

“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice called.

No response from Rey, though her breath quickened a little. She shifted one foot back just a bit to adjust her balance, ready to swing at him.

A hand crept around the edge of the cloth, and a curious face peered in.

Immediately, Rey swept her staff towards him. Her aim was true, and the tempered wood struck him directly in the face.

“Ow — ” The man disappeared from the entrance, blood already dripping from his nose.

Not wanting to give him a chance to recover, Rey launched herself after him. She screamed as she swiped at him again, noting his unusual attire almost as an afterthought. Armor, black and unfortunate in such heat, meant she’d have to hit what little of him was exposed. Her eyes automatically cataloged her targets as she pounded across the sand toward him. Hands, head, and the joints where the armor gave way to elastic padding. Rey could work with that.

The man’s eyes widened when he caught sight of her chasing after him, and he stumbled over himself, went crashing down. “Wait! Wait,” he pleaded, throwing his arms up to cover his face.

Rey’s foot slammed into his chest, effectively pinning him to the ground. She leveled her staff at him, eyes blazing, knuckles white with the strength of her grip.

“Who are you?” she asked.

Slowly, the man uncrossed his arms from in front of his face, holding them palm-up instead, a sign of surrender. “My name’s Finn,” he said. “Well, according to the Empire, it’s FN-2187, but I’m done with that, now that I’ve found you.”

Rey bore down harder on his chest, and Finn’s breaths turned labored. She leaned down until her face was mere inches away from his own. “What do you want?”

“To help you,” Finn spluttered. “Which I could explain better if you would get off my chest.”

Lip curling, Rey straightened and lifted her foot.

Finn sucked in a grateful breath, rubbing at his chest as he sat up. “Thanks,” he said, when he’d recovered enough to speak.

Rey planted her staff in the sand, still tense, ready to stop him if he tried anything. “I don’t need any help,” she said. “Certainly not from you.” What help could she get from someone who blundered into random places and gave up at the first sign of an attack?

“You do,” Finn insisted, slowly getting to his feet. “Not just from me. From the Rebellion.”

With a groan, Rey took her staff from its resting place. “Not this again,” she said. She’d had it with these superstitions and the people who believed in them.

“You’re the girl with the sun on her wrist, right?” Finn asked. “The one I heard about in the marketplace?”

Rey turned her back on him and pushed her way back into her shack. She wasn’t going to stand out there and listen to him spout more nonsense about Warriors and legacies and suns and moons. She had more important things to worry about. Like food, her aching stomach reminded her.

To her utter annoyance, Finn followed her. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Will you just leave me alone?” she snapped in response.

But Finn persisted, planting himself in the entrance and glancing over his shoulder every now and then. “Listen to me,” he said, talking so quickly his words stumbled into each other. “You aren’t safe here, all right? Kylo Ren knows you’re here on Jakku, and he’s not gonna leave until he’s found you. There isn’t a place on this planet you can hide in that he won’t be able to dig you out of. If you don’t come with me, he’ll take you, and trust me, none of us want that.”

Far from convincing her, Finn’s tirade only served to irritate Rey further. “I don’t know anything about a Kylo Ren,” she said. “Now, are you going to make me hit you again, or are you going to leave?” She hefted her staff once more, proof that her threat was not an idle one.

Finn eyed it carefully but didn’t move from where he stood. “Please,” he said. “Please at least let me bring you to the Rebellion. They can explain everything so much better than I can. I promise.”

Rey lowered her staff, not much, but enough that Finn could relax a little. “You really believe all this, don’t you?” she asked, noting the way he continued looking behind him, as if he expected this “Kylo Ren” to show up at any moment.

“Trust me,” Finn said, staring back at her earnestly, “if you’d seen what I’ve seen, you’d believe it too.”

Rey hesitated. It was still all just stories to her, but… She glanced down at the wrap on her wrist, firmly back in place around that damned mark. The image of a boy made of shadows flashed through her mind. She returned her gaze to Finn. “Does this Rebellion of yours have anything to eat?” she asked.

“Wha — ? Um, yes. I think so. I haven’t been there in a while, but they’ve had to stay alive somehow,” Finn said, bewildered.

Nodding, Rey shouldered her staff. “Then let’s go.”

Finn’s face lit up, his smile incandescent.  

“Don’t think this means I’m buying into all of this,” Rey cautioned him with a sharp look. “I just want to know what the hell is going on.”

“Whatever gets us offplanet,” Finn said, still looking indescribably relieved.

Rolling her eyes, Rey pushed past him and emerged from her home, glancing around curiously. “So, where’s your ship?”

Finn had moved to stand beside her, but at her question, he froze. “Um.” Sheepishly, he pointed at a dark trail of smoke billowing into the sky from a few miles away.

Rey quirked an eyebrow. “You’re really doing a wonderful job of rescuing me, have I mentioned that?”

“I’m not a pilot,” Finn muttered, more than a little flustered.

“No ship,  _ and _ you’re not a pilot! How do you suggest we get out of here, then?” Rey asked.

Finn turned in the direction of Plutt’s marketplace. He remembered passing a collection of ships—most of which had seen better days, but he couldn’t afford to be picky—sprawled out front. “We steal something and hope we can fly it,” he said.

For a minute, Rey just stared at him, mouth slightly agape. “I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “This isn’t worth it.” She was just about to go back inside despite Finn’s protests when she noticed a dark speck in the sky, growing larger by the minute. Squinting, Rey shaded her eyes with her hand to try and get a better look. “What is that?”

No sooner had she asked the question than it came into view: a sleek, black ship with a red cockpit and two wings jutting sharply forward.

Finn recognized it instantly. “That’s him,” he breathed. “Kylo Ren. We have to get out of here, now.”

The ship began its descent toward Plutt’s marketplace, and only then did Rey realize what must have happened.

“Plutt,” she spat through gritted teeth. “He brought them here.”

Heart sinking, Finn watched as the ship landed right outside the marketplace—nestled neatly among the vessels they needed to use for their escape.

Rey’s nose wrinkled. “So much for that brilliant plan,” she said. “What do we do now?”

Without ceremony, Finn reached over and grabbed Rey’s wrist. “We move fast.” Ignoring Rey’s startled “Hey!” Finn broke into a run, dragging her alongside him.

As soon as she realized Finn didn’t plan on letting go of her, Rey found her feet, and together, the two of them raced across the desert.

-

They came to a halt on the edges of the marketplace and squatted behind a large piece of what had once been something useful but was now consigned to the sun and sand.

Finn poked his head around one corner to survey the situation. “They’re talking to Plutt,” he said quietly.

“Who’s ‘they’?” Rey hissed back. Her eyes darted from one side to the other, staff already in hand in case anyone stumbled across them.

“Kylo Ren,” Finn said. “And Hux. Basically, the two worst people in the Empire.”

Rey pressed herself back against the debris and let out a long breath. “Okay. We get to a ship, I can fly it,” she said.

Finn drew back to look at her. “You’re a pilot?”

“I’ve crawled through the insides of enough ships to know about them,” Rey corrected.

“So you’re not a pilot,” Finn said, utterly deadpan.

Rey gave him a look. “Neither are you.”

Inclining his head, Finn admitted defeat. He peeked out again, trying to mentally calculate the distance between them and the nearest ship. “Alright,” he said, nudging Rey with his foot to make sure he’d caught her attention. “We’re heading for that grey one over there.” He nodded in its direction.

Crouching, Rey craned her neck to see which one he was talking about. “That one? The one with half its panels missing? That one’s garbage.”

“Maybe, but it’s closest to us and farthest from them,” Finn said, casting another sidelong glance at Kylo, Hux, and Plutt. They appeared to be deep in conversation, Plutt looking mightily pleased with himself. If Finn knew the Warrior, Plutt wouldn’t be wearing that look for long. He ducked back behind the hunk of metal. “Which means it’s our best chance.”

Rey sighed and rose into a half-bent, half-standing position, ready to move. “The garbage, then.”

Finn nodded, steeling himself for the run. “You ready?”

Rey’s only response was a terse, “Let’s just do this already.”

“Run.”

With that, they both took off, sprinting across the few dozen feet of treacherous sand that lay between them and their quarry.

“Hey!” The shout came from the direction of Plutt’s market, but neither of them slowed or stopped to look. “That’s her! That’s the girl! Someone stop her!”

And then Rey did stop. She felt a pair of eyes on her that seemed to strip back all the years that lay between them and their last meeting and see through the light of a fire long since turned to ash. She stared at him, transfixed, her jaw gone slightly slack. It was him. He was older now, clearly a man, but she’d know his face anywhere. The figure in the shadows.

A hand closed around Rey’s wrist and brought her slamming back into reality. It was Finn, half-dragging her toward the ship. Things seemed to move from slow-motion back to their regular speed; people and aliens alike were trickling out of the marketplace to watch the spectacle. Only then did Rey notice the redhead—Hux, Finn had called him—heading for her.

“Come on, we have to move!” Finn was yelling, and his voice snapped her into action.

Rey flew toward the ship that would be their refuge, Finn right on her heels. They pounded up the entrance ramp, blessedly open due to whatever repairs Plutt had been doing to it. Grudgingly, Rey admitted that Finn had known what he was doing when he’d picked it.

Rey was in the pilot’s seat before they even had a chance to raise the ramp. A whole panel of buttons, switches, and levers greeted her, and her mind suddenly went blank.  _ Oh no, _ she thought,  _ not now _ . Now was not the time.

“Rey!” Finn skidded into the cockpit, chest heaving. “Hux is right behind us. You need to get us off the ground, and you need to do it now.” He threw a glance back over his shoulder as if he half-expected to see Hux striding in after him.

Forcing herself to calm down, to think, Rey let out a long, slow breath. She closed her eyes for a couple seconds, all she could spare, and when she opened them, things began to click into place. “Right.” She primed them for launch and glanced sidelong at Finn. “Strap in.”

Finn instantly obeyed.

Almost before he’d gotten himself buckled into the copilot’s chair, Rey was firing up the engines. The ship shuddered beneath them as it came to life.

From the corner of her eye, Rey spotted Finn’s white-knuckled grip on the armrests of his chair. “You okay over there?”

“Been in one crash already today,” he muttered. “Not looking forward to another.”

“I won’t crash,” Rey said. She hoped. As soon as the engines were hot, she pushed them into overdrive.

Despite its earlier protests, the ship immediately responded. It lifted them effortlessly, rocketing toward the atmosphere with a graceful twirl. Rey let out an exhilarated whoop as they passed from blue into black and took their place among the stars.

With a relieved sigh, Finn released his death grip on the seat and clapped Rey on the shoulder. “Nice flying, captain.” He even gave her a little salute.

She shot him a blinding smile, but it melted away as she caught sight of the ship’s radar.

Finn’s gaze followed hers. Two ships were right on their tail and more were on the way. “Hopefully this scrap heap has some weapons.”

“It’s got something better,” Rey said, studying the console before her. “Hyperdrive.”

Finn’s eyes widened. “Will that even work? I thought it was gonna fall apart around us during launch.”

Rey’s eyes gleamed as she started the sequence. “Only one way to find out,” she said, a wicked edge to her voice.

“Of course there is,” Finn said as he pressed himself back into the chair.

Another look at the radar revealed one ship in particular—Kylo’s, if she had to guess—was getting disturbingly close. It was now or never. “Here goes nothing.” And Rey pressed the levers forward.

Space blurred around them, the stars turning into little more than white streaks, billions and billions of miles compressed into the span of seconds.

Rey brought them out of hyperspace with a lurch, their pursuers left far behind. The ship didn’t seem any closer to disintegrating than it had been when they’d stolen it, but she didn’t want to push their luck. “So,” she said, glancing at Finn. “How do we find this Rebellion, anyway?”

Finn dug around in the pockets of his armor until he pulled out a pulsing blue bracelet. “We follow this.” He looped it around a switch on the console, the glow washing over the cockpit as it pulsed steadily.

And follow it they did. It took another nerve-wracking trip through hyperspace to get them in the Rebellion’s vicinity, but Rey took them out of it as soon as they were close.

As they approached the Rebellion, Rey couldn’t help but stare at the planets they passed, fascinated by how much of the universe she’d never seen. All those days of routine, all those tally marks in her shelter… Rey had never considered what she might be missing. Suddenly, she wanted to see it all. She felt small, smaller than she ever had, lost in the vastness of her own ignorance. This whole time, she’d been trapped in a single corner of the universe. It didn’t seem fair that this was the first time she’d gotten to venture outside of it.

“Are you… crying?” Finn asked. 

Rey quickly dashed away her tears and cleared her throat. “No,” she said, knowing it wasn’t very convincing. “This is just — ” a deep breath, “ — a lot to take in.” 

Finn glanced out the window at the glittering stars surrounding them and nodded. “Yeah. I get that.” 

Trying to wrest her attention away from something that didn’t make her weep like a child, Rey cleared her throat and tilted her head towards Finn. “What’s your story, anyways? You mentioned that you were part of the Empire earlier, didn’t you? But we’re heading toward the Rebellion.” 

Finn flashed her a smile. “I was undercover,” he said. “We weren’t finding anything, floating out here, so we figured we’d try infiltrating the Empire instead, find out what they knew. Lucky for us, stormtrooper armor all looks the same.” There was a scathing edge of pride to his voice, as if he’d been personally responsible for engineering such a flaw. 

“So you pretended to be a trooper?” Rey asked, her eyebrows twitching upwards. “For how long?” 

“Too long,” Finn said with a long sigh. “Years.” 

Rey’s eyebrows rose a few inches higher. She hadn’t been very impressed with his rescue attempt, but this put him in a new light. It took no small amount of courage to march into the heart of one’s enemy, even if Rey didn’t quite buy into the reason for their enmity. “That’s… really brave of you, actually.” 

With a scoff, Finn waved her praise away. “Any of us would have done the same.”

But Rey could see the way his chest swelled from the corner of her eye, and she found herself suppressing a smile.   

The beacon led them true, and within a matter of hours, they were coming upon a mobile command center, a ship the likes of which Rey had never wanted to see. “That’s a Star Destroyer,” she said, her voice tight.  Had all of this been a trap? Anger flared within her, and her hand twitched towards her staff.

Finn laid his over hers with a shake of his head. “We were getting slaughtered. We had to figure out a way to hide, and this was our best option. It’s old, but it does the trick. No one looks too closely in case we are what we appear to be.”

Clever, Rey had to admit. After all, she’d been fooled.

The beacon was pulsing faster now, its twin doing the same in the Rebellion’s base. Slowly, the Star Destroyer’s loading bay doors opened, and Rey guided them toward it. Their ship was dwarfed by its massive size, and relief that they were on the same side washed over her.

It was quickly followed by a wave of self-doubt. What would these people want from her? Would they cast her out as soon as they discovered she wasn’t what they wanted? She couldn’t go back to Jakku now that Kylo knew she’d been there. She shivered at the memory of his eyes on her.

Finn snapped her out of her small reverie. “It’s good to be back,” he said, warmth filling his voice.

One side of Rey’s mouth quirked up in a smile. “I’m sure it is.”

Finn returned her half-smile. “Come on. Everyone’s going to want to meet you.”  

“Yeah,” Rey said, fingers running over the wrapping on her wrist. “Sure.” She concentrated on bringing them in for a soft landing.

Which was easier said than done. The landing gear took ages to respond, corroded by the sand and weather. They half-skidded to a bumpy halt, the two of them rattling around in their seats, sparks flying from the Star Destroyer’s deck. The ship let out a long groan as it came to a complete stop and settled to rest.

Rey had to peel her fingers off the controls. “Great first impression, Rey,” she mumbled to herself.

Finn was already out of his seat and making for the ramp, eager to rejoin his compatriots.

Rey followed at a more sedate pace, had to take a couple deep breaths before convincing herself to actually walk down the ramp. From the corner of her eye, she could see someone speaking rapidly into a transmitter, eyes fixed on her. Feeling a little self-conscious, she hurried to catch up with Finn. She found him embracing a handsome, dark-haired man in an orange flight suit.

“Finn! Good to have you back, buddy,” he was saying. When he caught sight of Rey, he pulled back, one hand still resting on Finn’s shoulder. “Is that — ?”

Finn beckoned Rey over. “Rey! Come meet Poe.” He held out his hand with an inviting smile.

Still a little hesitant, Rey made her way over.

“Poe, this is Rey. Rey, Poe,” Finn said.

“Hello,” Rey said, offering Poe a small wave.

He gave her an easy grin in return. “Welcome to the Rebellion.”

To her embarrassment, Rey’s stomach chose that moment to complain. She’d forgotten about her hunger in their mad run for survival, but now that she was safe, it was back with a vengeance. Cringing, she wrapped an arm around her stomach and prayed no one else had noticed.

“Let’s show you around,” Poe said, his grin widening a fraction. “We can start with the cafeteria.”

Everywhere they went, Rey could sense eyes on her. Whispers plagued her footsteps, and she stuck close to Finn and Poe, not wanting to lose sight of the two familiar faces. It was a thousand times worse than it had been with Plutt. There, no one had cared who she was, not really. They’d just cared about the mark. Here, these people looked at her, not through her. Rey was used to blending in, being just another body in the crowd. If you didn’t make trouble, you survived. She put her head down and trailed after Finn without a word.

They stared in the cafeteria too. But the smell of food overcame even Rey’s embarrassment, and she eagerly piled her tray high. Most of the food was foreign to her, not that she minded. When you lived in a barren wasteland, you ate what you could find.

She, Finn, and Poe settled at a table with a crowd of curious faces. Poe introduced each of them, but Rey was far more focused on a mysterious gray substance with orange specks than anyone sitting around her. She hummed to acknowledge their names and then fell to eating.

Thankfully, Poe took the hint. He and Finn chatted with each other, catching up on what they’d been doing while they were away.

Rey was about halfway through her tray when a strange hush fell over the cafeteria. She paused, fork halfway to her mouth, and watched as a gray-haired woman sailed in, eyes raking across the rabble.

“Who’s that?” Rey asked in an undertone.

She got her answer soon enough. The woman finally spotted Rey and made her way to their table.

Finn and Poe scrambled to their feet, Poe ready with a salute, Finn with a relieved smile.

“General Organa.”

Her imperious look gave way to something much softer, and she pressed one of Finn’s hands between her own. “Finn. Nice to see you out of stormtrooper gear.” She signaled Poe to relax, and both he and Finn sank back into their seats.

Then she turned her attention to Rey. “And you must be our Warrior.”

Rey got hesitantly to her feet, shrugging one shoulder. “I don’t know about all that. I’m just Rey.”

General Organa smiled. She took Rey’s hand as well, squeezing gently. “General Organa. Or just Leia.” With a wink, she released Rey’s hand.

Despite herself, Rey smiled. It was nice having someone else in the room for people to look at, she decided.

“Finish your meal,” Leia said, nodding towards what was left of Rey’s food. “Settle in. And once you have, come find me on the bridge. We have a lot to talk about.”

-

Poe and Finn left Rey to get settled into her room with the promise they’d be back to show her to the bridge later. She’d been given a whole room to herself in the command section of the ship. It was massive, almost the size of Plutt’s tent all on its own. The best part of it, though, was the fresher. Rey wasted no time stripping down and reveling in the streams of hot water. Years of grit and grime fell away, and she stepped out feeling lighter than she had in months. 

The bed was softer than Rey could believe. She was used to blankets on a hard frame, but she practically melted into this. She stretched herself out, tucked her arms behind her head, and stared at walls unblemished by chiseled marks.

There was a knock at her door—a proper door, made of metal instead of cloth—just when she was on the edge of sleep.

Finn poked his head in as Rey rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to rouse herself. “Leia’s waiting for us,” he said.

-

The bridge was mostly empty, just a few of the higher-ranking commanding officers seated at various stations. They glanced at Rey as she and Finn entered, but were soon re-absorbed in their work.

Leia stood front and center, staring out at the dark vastness of space spread before her. Somewhere out there, Rey knew, Kylo Ren was scouring the stars, searching for her. 

Leia turned to greet Rey as she walked onto the bridge. It didn’t escape her notice how her gaze was drawn to the bindings around her wrists. 

“May I?” Leia asked, fingers hovering just above the edges.

Rey hesitated a moment but finally nodded her permission.

Leia unwound the cloth and smoothed her thumb over the small mark they revealed. “What do you know about this?” she asked.

“I know the old story,” Rey said, withdrawing her arm and doing her bindings back up. “It’s supposed to mean I’m the Warrior of Light. But that’s all made up, right?” She wanted Leia to say yes, to reassure her that she wasn’t what she thought she was. What she’d always dreaded being.

Leia smiled wryly and, taking Rey’s arm, led her over to a lounge chair big enough for the two of them.

Finn perched at an empty command station nearby, watching them curiously.

“My son believes it’s real. And for what it’s worth, I do too,” Leia said. “I’ve seen too much to believe otherwise. My husband was more like you.” A hint of sadness crept into Leia’s voice, and Finn’s eyes grew hard.

“Like me how?” Rey asked.

Frowning slightly, Leia fingered a pair of golden dice she wore around her wrist like a bracelet. “Skeptical. He never believed in fairytales. Until he met my brother, Luke. He was the Warrior of Light, then. His mark looked just like yours.

“Our father was the other Warrior. My mother sent us away right after we were born, knowing what Vader would try to do if he knew what his son was. Our birth wasn’t easy on her, though, and after she died, Vader became obsessed with finding the Warrior of Light. She had been the only one who could temper him, and without her, he was ruthless. He destroyed entire planets trying to find Luke.

“Instead, he found me. My home planet, Alderaan, was one of those he destroyed.” Leia paused, and this time it was Rey who reached out and rested her hand on Leia’s. After a moment, Leia continued. “He thought he could use me to draw Luke out of hiding. He was right, of course. My brother had a kind heart. But he wasn’t dumb. He and Han rescued me, and we found the Rebellion.

“Vader used all of the Empire’s resources to try and destroy us, and he came close, very close, to succeeding. Luke decided to stop running. He faced Vader instead, the only one of us who had a chance of defeating him. He had to kill him, in the end, something my brother never truly recovered from. He sealed himself away in the Sun Temple for years. We all knew he dreaded the day when the Warrior of Dark would return.

“For years, there was no sign of them.” Leia drew in a long, ragged breath. “Then my son was born.”

Rey’s eyebrows twitched upward. “Kylo Ren is your son?” she asked.

Leia could only nod. “Luke couldn’t face having the idea of having to murder his own family again. It had nearly broken him the first time. He nearly killed himself, trying to find a way to give up the mark and everything that came with it, but he managed to do it. We all hoped that would be the end of it, that without another Warrior to face, Ben—Kylo, as you know him—would grow up normally. But he found his way to the Empire, and there was no one who could stop him. Han tried. I told him the legends, that only the Warrior of Light would be able to stop him, but he never was very good at listening.” She fell silent again, staring at the dice.

“What happened to him?” Rey asked gently.

“Kylo Ren killed him,” Finn broke in. At Leia’s sharp look, he retreated, but he’d said what he’d meant to.

Rey recoiled slightly. “He killed his own father?”

“As did Luke,” Leia said. “Destiny is a difficult thing to fight.”

Privately, Rey didn’t think that quite covered it, but she didn’t dare say that to Leia. She could tell by the look on Finn’s face that he was thinking along the same lines.

“Eventually, rumors began to spring up that the Warrior of Light had been reborn. Few of us here in the Rebellion believed them at first; there are always claims of a sun-marked wrist here or there. But when the Empire began looking for a girl, we knew there must be some truth behind them. And here you are: the truth.”

For a long, long moment, Rey couldn’t say anything. She was too busy mulling over everything she’d just been told. It all sounded real. It fit with what she had seen, what little that was. She’d never heard of Kylo Ren before, but she’d recognized him… How could this be possible? “I can’t be a Warrior,” she said. “I’ve never done anything special, I don’t have any sort of powers. I’ve never even killed anyone!”

Sympathy filled Leia’s gaze. “Some things are always hard to accept. I’d like you to see Luke. If there’s anyone who can help you realize who you are, it’s him.”

Rey stood abruptly. “I… I need time to think about this. Please.” She was already backing out of the room.

“Rey — ” Finn made as if to stop her, but Leia held him back. He glanced down at her, but she only shook her head.

“Think it over,” Leia said. “All I ask is that you weigh everything carefully.”

With that, Rey fled the bridge.

-

Her room was a solace. She was blessedly alone, as she was so used to being, and she could finally slow down and think. Leia’s tale explained some things. Too many things.

The vision of Kylo she’d had as a kid. The mark on her wrist. Being abandoned on Jakku—who would think to look for anyone there? That was a chilling line of thought. Had she resented her parents this whole time when all they had been trying to do was protect her?  

Rey almost wanted to believe it. It would mean she was more than just a desert rat. Her life could be more than scavenging for others’ scraps in the vain hope of pleasing Plutt. When she looked down, she was surprised to find her fingers resting over the spot on her wrist where her mark sat stamped into her flesh.

She closed her hand into a fist. She’d made her choice. Now all she had to do was live with it.

-

It was decided that Poe would see Rey safely to Ahch-To, the home of the Sun Temple, and the island where Luke had taken refuge.

She was a bit nervous about leaving Finn, but he assured her several times that Poe was the best pilot in the Rebellion and she couldn’t be in better hands. They traveled on a tiny transport ship, a vessel that would go unnoticed by most radars and register as nothing more than a cargo unit if it was picked up.  

Rey and Poe didn’t talk much. Her mind was still too full for her to try and keep up a conversation. Nevertheless, Poe gave it a valiant effort.

“So, Jakku. I’ve never been there myself. What’s it like?”

“Sandy.”

“Finn didn’t seem to like it very much. Said it was too hot.”

“It is.”

“I don’t mind the heat so much. Cockpits can get pretty steamy. But you would know that, right? Finn said you piloted the  _ Falcon _ all by yourself. That’s pretty impressive.”

“Thanks.”

“They tell you that used to be Han’s ship? He lost it in a raid once.” A smirk. “I don’t think he would have been very happy to find out it’s been rusting on Jakku this whole time.”

“Probably not.”

Poe gave up after that, a silence that wasn’t completely comfortable settling between them.

Finally, Ahch-To came into view.

Poe nudged Rey with his elbow, breaking her out of her reverie. “We’re here.”

Rey leaned forward to get a better look at it. Her first impression was that it looked very… green. She’d never seen so much green in one place before, and she was instantly enraptured. It was captivating, akin to the first glance she’d gotten of the universe. Suddenly, she was struck with the intense longing to see everything else it had to offer. She swallowed that down, though, knowing she wouldn’t get the chance anytime soon. 

The island was plagued with craggy rock formations, and it took them a little while to find somewhere flat enough to land. By the time they had, a figure had emerged from a squat stone structure at the base of one of the peaks.

“Is that Luke?” Rey asked as Poe powered down the ship.

Poe paused to take a look. “That’s him,” he confirmed.

Nerves overtook Rey again at the thought of meeting her supposed predecessor. What if he didn’t think she was able to do what had to be done? She straightened her shoulders and did her best to look like what she thought a Warrior should look like.

Poe clapped her on the shoulder. “You look good. Fierce.”

“Thanks.” Rey stepped out and immediately found herself under Luke’s heavy, gray gaze.

Neither of them said a word. Sucking in a deep breath, Rey walked forward, unwrapping her bindings as she went. Luke watched her steadily, but made no move to come to her. When her wrist was bare, Rey turned it out to face Luke.

A black sun.

-

Poe left only minutes after they had landed. If anyone was monitoring for any crafts, he didn’t want to give them a target. Wishing Rey luck under his breath, he blasted back into space and headed for the Rebellion.

He’d almost made it back to the base when his radar blipped. One craft. Two. Three. And they were massive.

“Oh, shit.” Only one entity had a fleet like that: the Empire. He switched on his comms, speaking quickly. “Transport to bridge, come in bridge.”

Connix’s voice crackled back to him through the speakers. “Transport, this is bridge. What’s going on?”

“The Empire’s fleet is headed straight for us. Permission to draw them away?”

“Negative, transport. That ship wasn’t built for speed. Return to base; we’re readying firearms.”

Poe was quiet for a moment, caught up in indecision. Then he flipped his ship around, right in the direction of the incoming fleet. “Sorry, Connix.” He switched off his comms before she could protest and gunned it. “Come and get me, bastards.”


	4. Chapter 4

Kylo stood amongst the wreckage of his latest failure, chest heaving, hair plastered to his forehead. She had been there, almost in his grasp, and he had lost her. He slammed already bloody knuckles against the wall once more, though it served no purpose.

A meek voice interrupted him just as he drew back his fist again. “Warrior.”

He turned to find Mitaka studiously ignoring the debris littering the floor. “What?” he growled.

“Our sensors have picked up a cargo vessel on the edge of our range. We captured it, as per our orders.”

Kylo raked his hair out of his eyes. “Who gave those orders?” he asked, voice deceptively calm.

Mitaka shifted his weight from one foot to the other and wouldn’t meet Kylo’s eyes. “General Hux, sir.”

Hux. The man was a snake, fangs ready at every turn to strike at any hint of exposed flesh. Kylo was growing weary of watching where he stepped. Brushing past Mitaka, he made for the bridge.

Hux stood at the center of the room, hands clasped behind his back, a satisfied smile on his lips. It melted away the instant he spotted Kylo.

“So we’re chasing after every vessel that flies under our nose now, are we?” Kylo came up beside Hux, drawing a few nervous glances from some of the officers.

All of them were wise enough to hold their tongues.

To his credit, Hux stood his ground. “This is the direction the girl disappeared. Whoever is aboard that ship might know something.”

Kylo flexed his fingers, now encased in black leather gloves to hide his torn flesh. He spoke in an undertone too low for even the closest officers to hear. “The next time you want to issue senseless orders, you had better make sure I don’t find out about it.”

With that, Kylo turned on his heel and went to greet their prisoner.

-

Poe had skirted the edge of the Empire’s fleet, just close enough to be in range without seeming like a deliberate distraction. It had worked like a charm. He’d been intercepted within moments, forced aboard the Empire’s flagship, and summarily cuffed.

Now he found himself strapped to a table and awaiting whatever consequences were in store for him.

-

Kylo studied him from the entrance of the interrogation room, head tilted slightly to one side. He didn’t recognize the man, but he recognized a Rebel when he saw one. They all had that same determined set to their jaw, that same fire smoldering in their eyes. This man was no exception.

Closing his eyes, he reached out to the shadows gathered in the corners of the room and bent them to his will. They responded eagerly, plunging the room into a chilled darkness that had the prisoner straining to try and make out something, anything, in the sudden black.

Only then did Kylo step into the room. He made barely any noise, letting his presence seep through the darkness. He could feel fear begin to take hold of the man. Those who lived in the light never felt comfortable when there was none to be found.

Kylo reached out to his mind, the barriers around it weakening as his unease grew. Murky images began to take shape in Kylo’s own mind. The man—Poe, he discovered—embracing the stormtrooper who had betrayed them. His mother stilling a crowded room. Then, there! The girl he’d been looking for all these years crowded close to Poe in the very ship now sitting in the Empire’s clutches.

But where was she now? Kylo burrowed further, bearing down with the shadows until he could hear Poe’s racing heart through them.

Something wavered on the edges of his vision, and Kylo tried to pull it into a coherent image. A flash of green, waves crashing on rocks… Then a flash of light so brilliant, it sent Kylo physically stumbling back.

His concentration gone, the shadows retreated back to the corners where they belonged.

Poe was left slumped on the table, gasping, eyes wide. His hands trembled, but he curled them into fists to hide it.

Growling in frustration, Kylo lashed out at the wall. The pain in his already bruised knuckles grounded him, and he brought the shadows back to bear with a vengeance. He would have what he came for.

Poe gritted his teeth against the wave of fear and anxiety that crashed over him, but as he was plunged into complete darkness once more, he couldn’t help but scream.

The same procession of images flashed by, and Kylo seized on them. The last played just as it had before. Green, waves, light. Cast out once more, Kylo stood glaring at Poe. How was he doing this, shrouding his memories from him? He shouldn’t have even known Kylo was inside his head. Unless… unless it wasn’t Poe. Which really only left one option. The place itself was hiding.

She’d found the Sun Temple.

-

When Poe truly came back to himself, he was alone, and the room was as it had been before that terrifying blackness. He shuddered at the memory of it. It had been like a living thing, snaking into his eyes, his ears, coating the inside of his mouth until he’d seemed to choke on it. Nothing about it had been natural.

This was the first time he’d really come face to face with what Kylo Ren could do, and he wasn’t eager for a second encounter. He set to looking for a way to free himself, straining against first the cuffs, then the straps.

That only served to exhaust him, and he ended up slumped back against the table, staring up at the ceiling. His eyes drifted back to the doorway, but it remained empty. No sign of Kylo Ren coming back to continue torturing him.

Poe’s gaze caught on something, infinitesimally small but maybe his saving grace. A small divot in the cuffs where the metal gleamed just a little bit brighter — a sharp edge. Barely willing to breathe in case he somehow gave himself away, Poe raised the divot to the leather strap across his chest and dragged the cuffs across it. It left scuff marks in its wake, and Poe glanced up to the ceiling, sending silent thanks to the Maker.  

Poe dragged the divot over the leather again and again and again until it began to fray under his attentions. He kept straining against it, testing it, hearing it groan. Once he saw frayed edges, he gathered his strength and threw himself forward. The strap gave way, and he would have toppled to the ground if it hadn’t been for the strap around his feet.

Working quickly, Poe cut through that one the same way. He kept glancing up, half-expecting to see Kylo or some other officer catching him and sounding the alarm, but he never did. Something else must have drawn their attention. Whatever it was, Poe was grateful for it.

His first few steps were wobbly after having been strapped down for so long, and Poe staggered, almost falling. He caught himself on the wall, hissing in a breath as the cuffs clanged softly against the metal. He froze, certain the sound would have alerted someone, but the room remained clear.

There was nothing he could do to get rid of the cuffs until he found someone with a key, but no way was he staying there for someone to find him. Sequestered in the doorway, Poe peeked into the corridor outside. It was empty save for a mouse droid trundling along, clicking merrily.

Poe waited until it had passed out of sight before slipping into the corridor. He’d been blindfolded when they’d moved him throughout the ship, but what sort of pilot would he be without a good internal navigation system? He’d felt the twists and turns the stormtroopers had dragged him through and began to retrace his steps.

Poe had just rounded one corner when he came across a company of troopers. Instantly, he pulled back and pressed himself as flat as he could go against the wall, praying no one had seen him.

A single set of footsteps broke off from the others and headed in Poe’s direction.

Tensing, Poe looked around for any possible sign of cover. His only option was a shallow doorway, and he took refuge there not a second too soon.

The stormtrooper walked into the corridor, hand on their blaster, glancing around curiously. “Is someone there?” they asked. “Come out with your hands up.”

Poe waited, listened to the footsteps drawing ever closer, closer, closer… As soon as the stormtrooper passed him, he stepped out behind him and brought the cuffs down on the unfortunate trooper’s helmet with as much force as he could.

The stormtrooper crumpled to the ground, their blaster dropping from nerveless fingers.

Clumsy from the cuffs, Poe dragged the stormtrooper into the doorway and propped him up against the wall. He searched his armor for some sort of key card, hoping against hope that he would have something capable of removing the cuffs but came up empty. With a frustrated grunt, Poe left the trooper and the blaster behind.

He would have liked to have the gun, but there was no way he could fire it with the blasted cuffs on. So Poe continued to scuttle through the ship like a stowaway, hiding when necessary, taking out any stormtroopers that got a little too curious.

-

“Are you certain this is a good idea?” Hux asked. His eyes were fixed on the bank of security vidscreens. Every so often, Poe would pop up in one section, disappear into a feedless corridor, and reappear in a nearby hall.

Kylo stood beside him, his gaze equally focused. “We need to make it harder,” he muttered, ignoring Hux’s question. “He has to think he’s actually escaped, or else he won’t risk returning to the Rebellion directly.” Turning to a nearby officer, Kylo ordered another section of stormtroopers to the hallway mere feet from where Poe currently crouched. “Send an officer with them,” he instructed. “Someone with a key for those cuffs.”

The officer snapped a hasty salute and immediately set about the task.

“If he doesn’t go crawling back to the Rebellion,” Hux tried again, “you’re willingly letting go of the best chance we have of finding the other Warrior.”

Kylo crooked his fingers, and a black shutter descended over Hux’s eyes.

He went completely still. “Give it back,” he said, voice husky. “Let me see.”  

Seconds stretched out between them before Kylo at last relaxed his hand, and the veil over Hux’s vision lifted.

He slumped forward, trying to mask that he was breathing harder, but Kylo could sense the terror running in an undercurrent through his veins.

It must be a startling experience, he mused, to become so suddenly and utterly blind. “You were saying?” he asked mildly.

Hux glared straight ahead. “Nothing, Warrior.”

One corner of Kylo’s mouth quirked upwards slightly. “I’m glad we agree.”

-

Poe was so close to the flight deck when he stepped into a corridor—and right into the sightline of half a dozen stormtroopers with an officer at their head. His eyes widened, and he ducked back just as a hail of lasers flew his way.

“Dammit,” he muttered.

“You!” A voice called from the hallway beyond. “Come out with your hands raised, or we’ll be forced to shoot.”

Poe rolled his eyes. “You already have!” he called back, straining his ears to listen for movement. Sure enough, the company seemed to be moving forward.

-

Kylo watched the whole thing unfold. “Lead him to the escape pods. And make sure he gets the key.”

-

Cursing, Poe was forced to retreat back the way he’d come, constantly on the alert for any threats that might come from ahead or behind. He paused at each turn to listen for the tramping of feet and adjusted his course accordingly. He’d long since lost his original sense of direction, his focus now entirely on evading capture.

But slowly, surely, Poe got more and more boxed in until there was only a dimly lit corridor left to him. He darted down it, but his path was cut off by the officer he’d seen earlier, a stormtrooper at his side.

The trooper raised his blaster.

Poe didn’t even slow down. He launched himself at the stormtrooper, barreling into him and sending them both sprawling to the floor. Before the trooper had a chance to recover, Poe rolled off him and came up in a crouch facing the officer who was reaching for his own blaster. Poe didn’t give him the chance to grab it. He slammed himself into the man’s knees, and he, too, collapsed.

A key card poked out of his pocket.

Poe seized upon it instantly. It took a bit of a work—and some severely cramped fingers—to swipe it across the cuffs, but they popped open with a hiss. Poe got to his feet and swiped the stormtrooper’s blaster just as the soldier managed to get ahold of it. He aimed a shot at the ground directly in front of him, the stormtrooper shrinking back.

“Think I’ll keep this,” Poe said with a grin. Then he was off, running down the corridor again towards what he had just realized were escape pods.

-

_ Pod 217 launched in sector 12 _ read the screen’s display.

Hux’s jaw tightened with disapproval. “I certainly hope you know what you’re doing,” he muttered.

Kylo Ren turned away from the monitor to watch the tiny pod jettison away. He didn’t respond, but privately, he hoped he did as well.

-

Poe was welcomed back with open arms, or rather, an open palm. His cheek stung from General Organa’s slap, and he gaped at her. “What was that for?”

“You disobeyed direct orders and could have gotten yourself killed,” Leia replied tartly. “Do I need anymore reason?”

“I was trying to lead them away from us,” Poe protested, right on Leia’s heels as she marched towards the bridge.

Leia spun to face him, her lips pursed into a thin, white line. “And yet you’ve led them right to us. I see the bruising around your wrists. Do you think you escaped? He let you go, knowing this is where you’d return.”

Poe missed a step. “H-how do you know that?”

“He’s my son,” Leia said, continuing on toward the bridge. “I taught him everything he knows about strategy. He will come, and he will go through as many of us as it takes to get to Rey.”

Face burning with shame, Poe fell back until he was trailing considerably behind Leia, not wanting to hear his failure explained to all the commanding officers. By the time he reached the bridge, Leia was already issuing orders, and the command centers were a hive of activity as everyone tried to ready themselves for the approaching battle.

Finn was just taking his leave—he wasn’t a commanding officer, he was a soldier—when Leia caught him by the arm. “I need you to warn Rey about what’s going to happen. She and Luke need to be ready if he gets to Ahch-To. Listen to me,” and her voice sharpened with intensity. “Don’t let her come back here. She’s safest in the Sun Temple; no matter what, you must make sure she stays on the island.”

He blinked, dumbfounded, before finally scraping together a coherent thought. “Why me?”

“Because out of all of us, you might be the only one she trusts,” Leia said. “I’m having Connix program a ship with a flight path straight to Ahch-To. You won’t have to do a thing except keep Rey there. Understood?”

Finn wanted to protest again, but he swallowed it down. They didn’t have time for his self-doubt. “I understand.”

Nodding, Leia released him. “Go, then. And try to keep this ship in one piece.”

With a faint smile, Finn snapped a salute. “Yes, general.” Then he was off to the ship Connix had prepared for him with the vague idea that trying to stop Rey from doing anything would be as much a battle as the one heading for them.


	5. Chapter 5

Rey stood facing Luke as Poe’s ship lifted off behind her. She didn’t take her eyes from his face, barely even breathed. This felt like a test of some sort, but she wasn’t sure what it was, let alone how to pass it. She lowered her arm fractionally, and that seemed to break whatever spell had settled over them.

“Leia sent you,” Luke stated. 

Rey nodded, finally drawing her arm back to her side. She went to rewrap it, but Luke shook his head at the action. “If Leia’s found you, that means Kylo has too. There’s no point in hiding who you are anymore. Better to embrace it.”

Rey hesitated. She’d grown so used to covering it up, and she still wasn’t even sure what more she was supposed to be. But Luke watched her intently, and this test, at least, she knew how to pass. So she unwound the rest of the cloth and shoved it into her pocket.

With a small nod, Luke turned.

They walked along a dirt path worn into the grass. A few inhabitants of the island looked curiously at them as they passed. Rey saw creatures she’d never even heard of before, tan and white birds with large eyes peeping at her, bent, fish-like creatures trundling up and down paths alongside them. They noticed her staring and grumbled amongst themselves, though Rey couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

“They prefer to go unnoticed,” Luke called over his shoulder.

Rey blushed and ducked her head, but she could still hear them chattering away. Great. A few minutes here, and she’d already managed to upset the locals.

They walked for a while longer. Just as Rey opened her mouth to ask where they were going, they topped the slight hill they’d been hiking up, and she got her answer.

A stone building sprawled out before them, standing in stark contrast to the rest of the island. It was made of burnished gold and gleamed in what little light filtered through the gray clouds above. Despite that, it was surprisingly plain. There were no patterns carved into the exterior, no decoration that Rey could see. A few of the strange birds she’d seen before even hopped and fluttered around it. Two columns flanked the entrance, which was little more than a gaping hole cut into one side.

“What is this place?” Rey asked, drifting towards it. She felt drawn to it, almost, like it wanted her to be there.

Luke inclined his head towards it, a silent invitation for her to enter. “The Sun Temple,” he said. “The place where your powers are strongest and Kylo Ren’s are weakest.”

That piqued Rey’s curiosity. “You mean he can’t do anything to me here?” she asked. That would explain why the Rebellion had been so eager to get her there.

“Right. But,” Luke cautioned, “you have the same weakness in his temple. Should he find you and take you there, you will be completely at his mercy.”

Rey shuddered at the memory of his stare, intense even in the remembering. She hoped she’d appeared equally intimidating and not as awestruck as she was. Somehow, she doubted she’d managed to strike fear into his heart.

Shaking herself from those thoughts, Rey said, “You said my powers would be strongest here, but I don’t have any.”

Luke stepped into the temple. “We’ll see about that.”

Intrigued, Rey followed after him.

The inside was just as plain as the outside. The walls were free of any decoration, the same polished gold that the exterior had been. The floor was mud-brown stone, broken only by a tiled symbol in the exact center of the room. Rey stared at it curiously. It was the silhouette of a person, split down the middle. One half gleamed gold; the other shone silver.

“Sun and Moon,” Luke said when he noticed the direction of her gaze. “Balanced, ideally, but never in practice.” With a short sigh, he lowered himself to the ground on one end of the symbol and gestured for Rey to do the same.

As she settled herself opposite him, she noticed a circle of light spilling into the room. Gazing up, she realized the ceiling above the symbol was open to the sky, allowing the sun to shine in.

Luke cleared his throat, pulling Rey’s attention back to the room around her. He held one hand out to her, gesturing for her to give him one of hers.

Obediently, Rey rested her palm on his. Her curiosity only grew as he flipped it over so that her palm was facing the sun.

Luke stretched his other hand over hers and closed his eyes, brow furrowed in concentration. “Close your eyes,” he instructed her. “And empty your mind.”

More than a little puzzled, Rey did as she was told. She did her best not to think about anything, though there was a pair of dark eyes that stubbornly insisted on cropping up every few seconds. She felt the pressure of Luke’s hand lifting off her hers, heard the smile in his voice as he told her to open her eyes, and she gasped when she did.

A small ball of light hovered over her hand, the mark on her wrist no longer black but a gentle pulsing gold. Almost as soon as she realized it was there, it disappeared.

Rey closed her fingers around empty air, certain there must be something more to it, some trick she wasn’t seeing. “What was that?” she asked.

“The power you didn’t think you had,” Luke said. “Your inner light. You’ve always had it; the trick is in getting to it.”

“How do I? How did you?” Rey asked. “Leia said you gave up your powers when you stopped being the Warrior.”

Luke nodded. “I did. But I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” He smiled wryly before indicating Rey should hold her hand out again.

Rey did so willingly.

“Concentrate,” Luke instructed, keeping his hands to himself this time. “Forget about what’s outside you. Focus on what’s within.”

With a deep breath, Rey closed her eyes and tried to do as Luke asked. She tried to block out the sounds of the porgs outside, the heat she could feel rolling off Luke’s body, the parts of the world that weren’t her. She pictured her body as a hollow shell and pictured herself filling it up slowly, exploring every corner of herself.

At first, all she found was her beating heart, her blood coursing through her veins, and the breath that filled her lungs. But as she got more comfortable, she thought she could see a tiny spark of something threaded throughout her body. Investigating further, she found it to be a ribbon of light bound up in every part of her. There was something familiar about it, like she’d known it was there all along, just not how to reach it. Now all she had to do was coax it out.

Rey focused in on her outstretched palm and tried to guide the light towards it. It began to brighten in intensity. Heat spread throughout her, not just the palm of her hand, but her whole body. She grew warmer and warmer—uncomfortably so. It was too much. The light kept getting brighter, she was on fire, she wanted to scream, had to, opened her mouth so she could—

“ R ey!”

Luke’s voice brought her slamming back into herself, her heart thudding against her ribcage. Rey’s eyes flew open as she gasped for breath. “What happened?” she asked.

“Your whole body started glowing,” Luke told her. “Nearly blinded me.”

Still warm, Rey had to glance down at herself to make sure she wasn’t actually on fire. Her skin was maybe a bit pinker than usual, but there was no sign she’d burned.

“Okay, so we need to work on control,” Luke said.

Rey looked up, certain she would see some sign of reproof on his face, but there was only resolution and a hint of amusement.

“How about we try again later,” Luke suggested. “Give yourself a little time to get oriented, familiar with it.” 

Rey took his advice. Time slipped away from her as she sank into her own body, retreating from the outside world. A bit warier now that she knew what her power could do, she danced around the glow inside her. Again, that strange familiarity. It was bizarre, discovering this new part of herself. She wanted to get to know it better, learn how to use it, even if she still wasn’t sure about this whole Warrior thing. Maybe it could be useful in other ways. 

Gradually, she became aware of a hand on her shoulder. Rey opened her eyes to see Luke staring down at her thoughtfully. 

“Ready to try again?” he asked. 

Nodding, Rey blinked a few times to try and reorient herself. Her limbs felt stiff and cramped, and she wondered how long she’d been sitting there.

Luke settled in front of her again. “Try the same thing as before, but this time, picture exactly what you want to have happen. See if you can make it a reality.”

Slightly nervous now that she’d seen how easy it was for her to lose control, Rey closed her eyes again and let out a long breath. She called up the image of herself again, locating the pinpricks of light hiding inside her. But she wasn’t confident enough. She could feel it, the hesitance to actually command that light.

Then, she heard Luke’s voice, filtering in as if he was a long distance away. “Focus, Rey. Take it slow.”

_ Take it slow, _ Rey repeated to herself. She drew the light in her veins forward, coaxing it once more towards her cupped palm. It began to heat up and she stopped, letting it cool again while she struggled to retain her hold on it. She managed to keep it in her grasp—until Luke jerked away from her and she heard two voices arguing.

Rey’s eyes popped open, and to her surprise, she found Finn arguing with Luke, trying to push past him to get to her. “Finn!”

At the sound of her voice, Luke stood down and let Finn move towards her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she got to her feet.

“I need to talk to you.” Finn glanced back at Luke. “Both of you.”

Luke’s face darkened instantly. “What’s happened?”

Rey’s blood ran cold. It hadn’t been that long since she’d left the Rebellion. What could have happened in so short a time?

“The Empire’s coming for us,” Finn said. “Which means they know we’ve found you, Rey, and they’ll be coming for you next if they can figure out where you  are.”

“If Kylo Ren does find out, this will be the best place for her,” Luke said. “He can’t do anything as long as we stay in the temple.”

Finn nodded. “Leia agrees. She wanted you to know, but she also wanted you to stay here, Rey. We’re going to do everything we can to hold them off.”

Rey didn’t know much about the Rebellion. She wasn’t particularly close with anyone besides Finn, and maybe Leia. But she also wasn’t going to sit back and let them be killed or hurt for her when they were only in danger because of her in the first place. She said as much, hands already curled into fists.

“Rey,” Luke said, and she hated his tone, how it was meant to soothe but only inflamed. “He can’t get to you here. He won’t risk facing you without his powers. And you won’t be any good to the Rebellion as you are now. You haven’t even begun to learn how to master your true potential.”

Rey’s scowl deepened. She’d spent almost two decades entirely on her own, depending on no one, and now they thought she was useless? She rounded on Finn. “You found me so I could help,” she said. “How is hiding away going to help anyone?”

“It’s not for forever,” Finn protested. “Just until you learn what you need to to fight back.”

For a moment, Rey stood where she was, eyes flicking between the two of them. Neither looked like they were inclined to back down. Well, she wasn’t going to either. She wished she hadn’t left her staff back on  the Rebel base, but she’d fought off plenty of people with nothing but her fists. She could do it again.

Without a word, Rey pushed past them and took off at a sprint. Luke didn’t a have a ship that she could see, so as long as she could get to Finn’s before them, they wouldn’t be able to stop her.

“Rey!” Finn shouted.

She didn’t look back. All the confusion and anger she’d felt over the last few days fueled her until she was practically flying over the grass. She nearly ran into a few of the fish-like women, and they screeched after her angrily. “Sorry!” she called over her shoulder, but she didn’t slow.

Finn’s ship came into view, and she threw herself into it with barely a pause. As she sealed off the cabin, Finn came running over the ridge, shouting and waving his arms. “Rey! Wait, please!”

“Sorry, Finn,” she said, already starting the ship’s launch sequence. Inaction just didn’t suit her. With a deft hand, she guided the craft into the air. One last glance down at Finn, who was staring up at her helplessly, and she was off, racing back towards the Rebel base as quickly as she could.


	6. Chapter 6

The vacuum of space stood as a silent battleground. One once-abandoned, outdated Star Destroyer against the might of an Empire. A handful of Rebels as a shield to the rest of the galaxy. And so their battle began.

Lasers streaked across the dark like fireflies. Explosions were born and died in the space of a second. A flickering blue shield was all the defense the Star Destroyer had. They all knew it wouldn’t last forever.

The weight of the Empire’s fleet bore down harder on the Rebels while its belly opened to release a swarm of TIE fighters. The Rebels responded in kind, a fleet of X-Wings zipping into battle. It was a deadly game they played. Pilots took breaths they didn’t know would be their last. Their dying screams were lost to the unforgiving atmosphere.

Poe was right there with the rest of them. He knew that Leia would have preferred him to stay where she could keep an eye on him, but they were short on bodies, and his was ready and willing. It wasn’t enough to make up for his mistake, taking out a few enemy pilots, but it was all he had to offer. His targeting system bounced from one ship to another to another. Every shot found its mark. Green gave way to orange flame, but Poe didn’t pause.

His eyes searched the chaos for one ship in particular. “Keep an eye out for Kylo Ren,” he said into his comms and received affirmation from the other team leaders. Was the Warrior really impervious to anyone but Rey? Maybe. But Poe was willing to bet having his ship blasted to pieces would at least slow him down.

-

Kylo stood on the bridge, cold eyes fixed on the ship in front of him. They defied him to their own detriment. He would have preferred not to have to kill any of them; the more of them he captured alive, the greater chance one of them would tell him where the other Warrior had run off to. “Concentrate all fire on the shields,” he ordered. “Tell the  _ Fulminatrix _ to circle around from behind. Hit them from all sides.”

His orders were immediately relayed, and the fleet began to break apart, slowly surrounding the Rebels. Their barrage continued, and the shield began to disintegrate. Realizing their predicament, the X-wings began to retreat.

Triumph glimmered in Kylo’s gaze as he stepped forward to watch. “Push through.”

-

There weren’t enough of them to cover all the entrances, not by a long shot. The Rebels barricaded themselves in the few rooms near the bridge, all of them waiting for the inevitable tramp of feet that would mean their ship had fallen. Tension stretched between them as they crouched behind makeshift barriers, blasters drawn, all of them eclipsed by the shadow of the Empire.

Leia sat at her command station, hands folded in her lap. She was alone; the other officers had gone to keep what order they could in other parts of the ship. There was no sign of fear in her bearing—she sat straight-backed and stared directly ahead.

The shields failed. The Empire held their fire. A small retinue of ships crossed the distance between the  _ Supremacy _ and the defunct Star Destroyer. Kylo Ren stepped aboard.

Leia felt the moment he did. The shadows gathered in the corners of her room seemed to deepen and bend toward his unseen figure. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding just as the door to the bridge slid open with a quiet hiss.

“Where is she?” Kylo asked.

Her composure didn’t slip. “Ben.”

Kylo’s scowl deepened. “Where is the Warrior?” he asked again.

“She’s not here,” Leia said, sweeping a hand around to encompass the empty room. “As you can see.”

Kylo moved further into the room, but still Leia didn’t move. She faced him with her chin up, ever defiant. “If you won’t tell me,” he said quietly, “I’ll have to force you, and I’ll find out anyway. Make this easier on both of us.  _ Please.” _ The last word was barely a whisper.

One of Leia’s hands twitched as if she wanted to reach for him, but she only pressed it further into her lap. “Do what you have to do.”

The challenge lay heavy between them, and Kylo hesitated. His jaw worked at nothing, lips just on the edge of quivering. Slowly, as if someone else was controlling his movements, he raised his hand. The shadows shifted. Darkness pushed in at the corners of Leia’s eyes.

Then Kylo froze. “She’s here,” he rasped.

“She’s gone, Ben,” Leia said, desperately attempting to stave off panic. But Kylo was past listening. Dropping his hand, he marched off, following an invisible thread only he could see. Alone again, Leia slumped back into her chair and prayed it wasn’t true.

-

Blood roared in Kylo’s ears as his heart beat faster. Foolish girl, she had delivered herself right to him. He practically ran through the halls, seeking for the column of heat that she was. He could feel it rolling over his skin in waves, wondered if he was equally cool to her touch. Then, a burst of heat, a solar flare, and she was there in front of him.

She took Kylo’s breath away with her mere existence. She was what he’d searched for for years. Now, all he had to do was reach out—

With a primal scream of fury, she hurled herself at him.

Caught off guard, Kylo barely had time to shield his face with his arms before she was on him. Not a second to spare. The staff that she carried came crashing down, and the impact reverberated through his bones. Kylo quickly recalibrated. He had thought she was completely untrained, ignorant of her own role in the universe, but she clearly wasn’t helpless.

Reflexively, he reached for the shadows. They responded to him like old friends, surging towards her, snatching at her limbs.

Her whole body glowed faintly, casting a faint yellow light on the walls of the corridor behind them and warding off the shadows. It flickered as the darkness continued its assault, steadily eating away at her meager defense. Another shout, another swing of her staff, another bone-jarring impact, this time to Kylo’s ribs.

His breath left him in a rush, and he doubled over, clutching his stomach. Pain was not something he was used to. Even so, he gathered himself enough to avoid the next blow which would have come cracking down on the back of his skull. It glanced off his shoulder as he threw himself to one side. Kylo threw his momentum into a roll and came up on his feet, wary now, searching for an opening.

To his surprise, she didn’t look vengeful or even angry. Instead, she just seemed determined, her jaw set, her eyes hard even as her light shuddered. She clutched the staff like a lifeline and that, Kylo realized, was her weakness. She  _ was _ untrained, at least in her powers.

Kylo saw her getting ready to swing again. Moving quickly, he stepped forward, inside her guard, taking away her maneuverability. He reached for her wrist, but she was faster than he had anticipated.

She twisted away, bringing her heel down on the top of his foot for good measure as she spun past him.

Kylo barely had time to process that pain before she’d gotten in a hit to his spine. He stumbled forward a step, quickly tried to regain his balance, but she was too fast for him.

She struck him in the back of the knees and brought him to them with a heavy thud. Almost before he could blink, she was back in front of him, one end of her staff pressing into his chest. “Yield,” she hissed.

Kylo opened his mouth—and a bolt from a blaster hit her squarely between her shoulder blades.

She whirled to find Hux standing a few paces away, blaster still leveled at her. The smug smile dropped from his face as she took a step towards him, seemingly unfazed by the bolt.

Kylo saw his chance, and he took it. He seized her staff and pulled, hard enough to throw her off balance and send it flying from her hands. Fury stamped on her features, she lunged at him. Kylo’s body acted without thinking. He brought the staff up in a sweeping arc and connected solidly with her temples.

She collapsed to the deck, out cold.

The staff came clattering after her as it fell from Kylo’s newly shaking hands. “I didn’t mean to… Did I kill her?”

Hux nudged her body with his foot, eyes immediately finding her arm. The black mark still stood out against her skin, no sign that it had faded. “She’s alive,” he said.

Kylo didn’t even try to hide his relief as he bent to take her into his arms. “We have what we came for,” he said. “Let the others go.”

Hux gaped at him. “Let them go?” he echoed incredulously. “Warrior, we have the chance to wipe out the entire Rebellion. There would be no one left to oppose us! We should take this chance—”

“Once I take her light, it won’t matter,” Kylo interrupted. “Their fight will be over. Let them go.” He started to walk away but paused, half-turning to glare at Hux over his shoulder. “That’s a direct order, general.”

Seething, Hux brought his hand up in a stiff salute. “Yes, Warrior.”

“Good.” 

Kylo did leave, then. He returned to the  _ Supremacy _ carrying victory in his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing that Rey noticed when she awakened was that her head hurt. More than that, it throbbed. Moaning, she lifted her hand to her temple. Or at least she tried to. Her hand only got a little ways up before something stopped her. Rey reluctantly peeled her eyes open to find out what it was.

Rope, as it turned out. She was tied down to a wooden slab that was probably a table when it wasn’t being used to restrain prisoners. Then again, Rey thought as she noticed the large, metal rings the ropes were tied to, maybe not. Her eyes blurred in and out of focus as her pulse throbbed through her head again. She squeezed them shut as tight as they would go and willed them to focus.

When she next opened them, things were a little clearer. She craned her head around, taking stock of her surroundings. The walls looked like stone, but there was a pool of water set in the center of the room, and if she squinted, she thought she could see a door at the end of the room. Rey groaned again as her head fell back against the table. It was too much effort to hold it up any longer.

Wherever she was, there didn’t seem to be any lights. Darkness pressed in on her from all sides, and a shiver ran through her. It was then that Rey realized there was a faint glow coming from somewhere. It took her another second or two to puzzle out that it was her. She examined her own skin with curiosity. The mark on her wrist pulsed gold, as it had done when Luke showed her how to access her power earlier. And it was then she made her third discovery. She wasn’t alone.

He was barely visible in the shadows, his edges seeming to blend and blur into the blackness. His form looked almost unsteady, as if at any moment he would dissolve into it.

Rey flinched back from his burning gaze, fixed wholly on her. “Where am I?” she asked. Her voice was rough, and she wondered how long she’d been unconscious. “What did you do to me?”

Kylo didn’t appear to move, but his edges became a little more solid. “You’re on my ship,” he said. Ignoring her second question, he shifted forward slightly. Something like awe filled his voice as he asked, “Do you even know how you’re doing that?”

“Doing what?” Rey snapped. Her heart sped up as he got to his feet and drifted closer. He moved soundlessly, and it unnerved her.

Kylo reached his hand out, and Rey flinched back automatically, straining against her bonds. He didn’t touch her, though, his hand hovering over her arm for a second before withdrawing. He looked at her with naked desire, but not for her, Rey realized. For her light.

Rey closed her eyes and focused. When she opened them again, her glow had dimmed considerably, and Kylo was back to his more formless self. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked. She didn’t want to be scared of him, but she had to admit, tied down like this with the memory of Finn telling her how he’d killed his own father made her a little nervous. For all that, though, Kylo didn’t look murderous. He seemed almost reverent as his eyes flicked to the mark on her wrist.

“I’m going to get back what’s rightfully mine,” he said. His eyes were unfocused as if he was speaking to someone other than Rey.

“It’s not yours,” Rey spat back, surprised at her own ferocity. Two days ago, she’d thought Sun and Moon were only stories. But she thought of the way Finn had pleaded for her to stay on Ahch-To, even as the Empire had borne down on the Rebels. They’d all been willing to die to keep her safe. If Kylo thought she was going to lie down and give up, he’d greatly misjudged her.

Kylo’s eyes sharpened. “You stole it from me,” he said. “Maybe not from this body, but I used to shine, just like you.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Darkness seems to suit you just fine,” she retorted. “I’m sure you can handle it.”

For a long moment, Kylo was still, and fear began to creep up inside Rey again. Perhaps she should have chosen her words more carefully, tied up as she was. What she wouldn’t give for her staff, or even a greater grasp on whatever burned inside her.

But when Kylo moved again, it wasn’t to strike her. Instead, he pushed back the sleeve of his tunic and showed her the skin of his wrist. Like hers, it was marred by a tiny black symbol, a crescent moon suspended amidst pale veins. “I held back the darkness, once,” he said, and his voice was so quiet, Rey had to strain to hear him. She wasn’t even sure if he was speaking to her. Then he was stepping back, pulling his sleeve down to cover the small moon once more. “Maybe I would have again. You took that choice away from me.”

Rey wanted to protest that she hadn’t, but the words wouldn’t come. After all, she was even now refusing to give him anything, and why shouldn’t she? Moon was a murderess. Kylo was the same. She opened her mouth to tell him as much when the door flew open.

Kylo whirled, his irritation at being interrupted clear on his face. His ire only deepened when he saw a familiar crop of red hair come sailing into the room. “General Hux,” he hissed. “I trust you have a good excuse for interrupting me. Again.”

Hux glanced over Rey as if she wasn’t even there, his pinched expression for Kylo alone. “The Rebels are readying an attack. I suggest—” He broke off, finally seeming to register Rey’s presence. “I suggest we speak outside.”

Kylo didn’t look happy about it, but he trailed after Hux. He cast one, long look back at Rey before closing the door behind him.

-

As soon as she was alone, Rey surged against the ropes. She sat up, pressed her feet against the wood, and strained with all of her considerable strength. She accomplished nothing but chafing away the skin at her wrists, the red marks only growing more painful as she pulled harder and the rope bit deeper.

Slumping back, Rey stared up at the ceiling, a frustrated growl rumbling in her chest. It took her a few minutes to calm enough before she could close her eyes and concentrate on her power. She reached for the burning sensation she’d gotten wrapped up in earlier with Luke; burning could be helpful right about now. She tapped into the light surging through her and brought it running to the surface, expecting that same loss of control.

But when she opened her eyes, all Rey saw was the faint glow again. Luke’s words came back to her, then, his warning that she would be as good as powerless in the Moon Temple. Finally, she had her answer as to where she was.

Of course Kylo had brought her there. If the tables were turned, she would have done the same. That didn’t make it any easier to accept that she really was trapped, though. She took to studying the rope again, checking for any signs of fraying, any weak spots she might be able to exploit.

Before Rey got the chance to do anything more, the door eased open. She froze, expecting to see Kylo come striding back in. To her surprise, it wasn’t him but a woman she’d never seen before

She was tall, cloaked in silver, her icy blue eyes regarding Rey curiously even as she hurried to close the door behind her.

“Who are you?” Rey asked, muscles tensing. She shrank back as the other woman approached and cursed her helplessness.

The woman paused when she noticed Rey’s wariness, putting her hands up placatingly. “A friend,” she said. “I’ve come to help you.”

Rey relaxed somewhat. She didn’t know this woman, but she hadn’t known Finn either, and he had been helping from within the Empire. It wasn’t beyond reason that the Rebels had more spies. She lay still as she untied her then sat up and instantly regretted it. A spike of pain lanced through her head, and she dropped it into her hands with a quiet moan.

She barely registered the other woman carefully tugging her hands away and pressing the rim of a cup to her lips. “Drink this,” she said quietly. “It will help make you strong again.”

Rey squinted down at the contents of the cup, lip curling involuntarily. Dark liquid sloshed inside, and the smell repulsed her. But she couldn’t even get to her feet in this state, let alone escape from Kylo. She took the cup and sipped at it, forcing herself not to recoil at the taste. She downed about half of it before the thudding in her temples resided.

The other woman watched her closely. “Can you stand?” she asked.

Tentatively, Rey placed one foot on the ground and tested her weight. “I think so.” She kept one hand on the table to steady herself, but she was able to straighten up. She glanced at the other woman, who gave her a tight smile in return. “I think I’m—” A wave of agony interrupted her, and she dropped to her knees with a cry.

This pain wasn’t in her head but seemed to spread throughout the whole of her being, emanating from her gut. Rey wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried to glare up at the woman from her position on the floor. “What… what did you do to me?” she asked, words shaky. Every breath was excruciating.

The woman crouched in front of her, eyes like cut glass. The waters of the pool reflected back in them, making them appear fathomless as she studied Rey’s agony. “Moon dust,” she said.  “Poison, to you. We have so little of it left.” She let out a soft sigh before reaching to brush her fingers over Rey’s cheeks. “But if ever there was a reason to use it…”

Rey wanted to curse her, but she couldn’t make her tongue move. It was all she could do to stay conscious through the agony that kept wracking through her. Her vision began to blur, but she thought she saw her veins run black, darkness coursing through her. No. She wouldn’t give this woman the satisfaction of dying so easily. She lurched forwards, crawling her way towards the door.

The woman’s gaze never left her. She didn’t move to stop her, only because she knew there was no need. Rey was dying.

The door seemed so far away. Rey couldn’t remember the room being this big, but it seemed to stretch in front of her for miles. Sweat poured down her face, and her skin was beginning to break out in black patches. She could feel it eating away at the light inside of her, but she refused to give up. She didn’t stop until her body collapsed and refused to go any further. Rey lay prone on the floor, hand still outstretched for the door. Her breathing was getting slower, slowly but surely.

It was then that Kylo returned. Rey was only vaguely aware of what was going on around her, but she could hear the stark anger in his voice edged with something else. Fear? Desperation? Thinking was too hard. Rey just wanted to sleep.

“Phasma! What have you done?”

Rey felt herself being lifted into someone’s arms. Kylo’s, if she had to guess. Her head lolled against his chest, and she longed to lift it, snarl at him for taking such liberties, but she was long past that point. The most she could manage was twitching her lips into a grimace.

“Put her down,” Phasma said, utterly calm. “You’re supposed to steal her light, not save her.”

Kylo turned on her, snarling. “I can’t steal her light if there’s no light left to steal.”

He said something else, and Rey thought it was probably important to listen, but her hold on consciousness was tenuous at best. There were flashes of things. Phasma shouting, Kylo carrying her through the ship, stormtroopers rushing past as they prepared for the Rebel attack. None of it seemed as important to Rey as getting some rest. But every time her eyes drifted closed, Kylo would shake her and snap something she couldn’t quite make out. Probably telling her to stay awake, the bastard. He’d done all this and now he wouldn’t let her have any peace. Rude.

Eventually, he set her down somewhere. The ground beneath her shuddered and then lifted. A ship, she thought. She didn’t know where they were going, but she didn’t care. Kylo couldn’t shake her awake anymore, not when he was flying. At last, she allowed her eyes to slide shut and melted into the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

Sticky blackness gave way to light as Rey peeled her eyes open again. She really did not need to make this a habit, she thought. Slowly, the world began to come together, but it didn’t make any sense. She recognized the faint golden glow of the Sun Temple’s walls—it wasn’t easy to forget. Luke’s face swam into view, and that made sense. If anyone was going to be in the temple, it would be him. He wasn’t the only person staring down at her, however. Kylo was there, hovering at the edges of her vision. He drew back as soon as he noticed she was awake.

“Welcome back to the world of the living,” Luke said with a weary smile.

Rey noticed his face looked a little more drawn, a little more hollow than it had the first time she’d met him. She made to sit up, but his hand was immediately on her shoulders, keeping her down.

“Don’t try to move,” he said. Then, to Kylo: “Get her some water.”

Maybe she would have tried to resist Luke’s hold, but the slight movement had sent her vision spinning again, and she was content to lie still. When Kylo returned and held out the cup, she eyed it warily.

Understanding dawned on Kylo, and he scowled. “I didn’t poison it.” When Rey still didn’t make any move to take it, he sighed and thrust the glass at Luke instead. “Drink some of it, or she never will.”

Looking slightly bemused, Luke did as he was asked.

Rey opened her mouth to warn him, but all that came out was a desperate rasping noise. She stiffened as seconds ticked by, turned into minutes, and finally relaxed when she realized Luke’s insides hadn’t been turned to sludge. Still glaring balefully at Kylo, she accepted the cup from Luke.

As soon as the water touched her lips, she realized how dehydrated she was. Her mouth felt as parched as Jakku, and she drained the cup in seconds, swiping her tongue around her lips to catch every drop.

Kylo held out his hand for the glass, but Rey ignored him and set it down beside her bed—since when was there a bed in the temple?—and gazed instead at Luke.

“I’m guessing you have a few questions,” he said, voice tinged with amusement.

Rey simply nodded.

Luke patted the thin mattress Rey was reclining upon. “I brought it from my hut,” he said, and Rey rolled her eyes.

Of all the questions she had, that one had been pretty far down on her list.

“Okay, okay.” Luke put up a hand placatingly. “I’ll tell you what happened, but you have to promise you’re going to actually listen to me this time and not just go running off whenever you feel like it.” His tone was light, but his eyes were dark and serious.

Rey shrank back a little, unable to meet his eyes. She thought of Finn, who’d done the best he could to keep her safe, and reminded herself to apologize to him later. If Luke ever allowed her out of this bed. Sheepishly, she placed a hand over her heart. “Promise,” she croaked, wincing at the sound of her own voice.

Luke studied her for a long moment as if he could judge the truth of her words if he only looked hard enough. Whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him, as he nodded and sat back on his heels to give her some space. “I can only tell you what I know. Ben brought you here. Apparently, you were generous enough to tell him where I was.” He swept on even as Rey opened her mouth to defend herself. “Not that I blame you,” he said quickly. “You were delirious and half-dead. If it had taken you any longer to get here…” He broke off with a shudder.

It took some effort, but Rey reached out to rest her hand atop Luke’s.

He offered her a small smile at the gesture. After another second, he continued. “I managed to clear out most of the infection, but I have to warn you, Rey, this isn’t something that just goes away.”

Rey furrowed her brow and forced her tongue to move. It felt like a lead weight and needles pricked her throat, but she pushed through it. “What do you mean?”

A look passed between Luke and Kylo, and something in it made Rey’s heart twinge. Suddenly, she thought she might not want to know the answer.

“As Leia told you, I used to be the Warrior of Light,” Luke said. He pushed back the sleeve of his robe to reveal nothing but an ugly, twisted patch of skin exactly where Rey’s mark sat. Seeing the curiosity in her gaze, Luke tapped the gnarled spot. “Burns,” he explained. “I thought if I burned away the mark, it would take away my powers. Doesn’t work, if you were thinking of trying that.”

Rey’s hand stole unconsciously to her own smooth skin. “So,” she rasped, “how did you give them up?”

Luke grimaced and stole another glance at Kylo.

He looked like he was trying desperately to melt away into the shadows, but his powers were as useless now as Rey’s had been.  

“There’s only one way for a Warrior of Light to stop being the Warrior of Light,” Luke said. “You have to die.”

Confusion knitted Rey’s brows together. “You don’t look very dead,” she pointed out. Still, she glared accusingly at Kylo.

He glared right back, arms folded across his chest.

Luke laughed a little, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “Ben was three at the time; he didn’t have anything to do with it. That really only left me with one option.”

Rey sucked in a harsh breath and immediately fell into a coughing fit. It left her throat feeling even harsher and more raw, and she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them to stare disbelievingly at Luke. “Moon dust,” she whispered. “You poisoned yourself?” She remembered the sheer agony of darkness coursing through her and shuddered. She couldn’t imagine inflicting that on herself again, no matter how desperate she was.  

“Trust me, I wasn’t very happy about it either,” Luke said, smile turning grim.

“But you didn’t die,” Rey said, “and you’re not the Warrior.”

“Right on both accounts,” Luke nodded.

Rey shook her head and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. Her head was starting to ache. “How?” she asked.

It took Luke so long to respond that Rey wasn’t sure he’d even heard her. Eventually, though, he cleared his throat. “Moon dust isn’t exactly a poison,” he began, and his words settled on Rey’s chest like stones. “It feels like one. In some ways, it acts like one. It destroys, but not our bodies.”

Horror came with realization, but Rey couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“It targets our light,” Luke said.

Rey’s breath rattled in her chest. She was almost too afraid to ask. “Does that mean I’m not the Warrior anymore?”

In answer, Luke gestured to the mark that still sat emblazoned on her arm. “Thankfully, we got to you in time,” he said.

For a moment, Rey was relieved, but then Luke’s warning came back to her. Eyes narrowed, she said, “You told me it didn’t go away.”

“It doesn’t.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “The best I could do was neutralize it. When you aren’t using your powers, you should be fine, but when you are, the dust that’s left in your system will try to fight it.”

Rey blinked down at the mark, a hollow feeling stealing into her chest. “So I can’t use my powers anymore,” she said dully. This couldn’t be happening. She’d barely even learned about them, and now they were gone? Nothing about that was fair. 

“You should be fine to use them for short periods of time,” Luke said. “Though I wouldn’t risk anything too strong.”

His words slowly seeped into her, circling around and around Rey’s mind until they became white noise. “So I’m useless,” she said.

Kylo snorted, drawing Rey’s attention back to him for the first time since her and Luke’s conversation had started. “You’ve definitely been with the Rebels,” he muttered.

Rey hauled herself into a sitting position, ignoring the sharp look Luke gave her. “Excuse me?”

Kylo didn’t move from where he leaned against the wall, but he regarded her from the corner of his eye. “You’ve known about your powers for all of a week,” he said. “If you weren’t useless before that, why would you be now?”

Rey found herself at a loss for words. That sounded… surprisingly like comfort. She didn’t know what to do with it, not when it came from Kylo Ren. Then, the rest of what he’d said sank in, and her thoughts turned elsewhere. “What do you mean a week?” she asked, confusion lending an edge to her voice.

It was Luke who answered. “You’ve been out for five days.”


	9. Chapter 9

As Rey struggled to come to grips with everything she’d just learned, Kylo slipped out of the temple. He felt a little better once outside, but the temple tainted the whole island, and there wasn’t anywhere he could really escape it. Rey’s sentiment echoed in his head.  _ So I’m useless. _ He understood it, even if he didn’t agree with it. Stripped of his powers, he felt weaker, more vulnerable, than he had for years.

That was what the Rebels did, he thought, or, more specifically, what Leia did. Boiled you down to your useful parts and loved you for them, but what were you without them? Useless. Kylo had reconciled himself to that, or at least he thought he had. Rey had struck a nerve he’d thought was dead.

Kylo pushed all that aside as he came upon Finn, who was seated on a rock outcropping and watching a flock of porgs listlessly. He had to confess a grudging admiration for the Rebel stormtrooper. He’d hidden under Kylo’s nose for years. That took a good amount of courage even he couldn’t deny.

Finn’s hands curled into fists, and he shot to his feet as Kylo approached.

Kylo stopped a few feet away, not wanting to antagonize him. “She’s awake,” he said. “You can go now. I’m sure the Rebels will want to know what’s happened to her.”

Finn looked to the temple, but his eyes soon returned to Kylo. “I’m not leaving her alone with you,” he said.

“She’s not alone,” Kylo snapped. “Luke won’t let anything happen to her, and she’s safe inside the temple anyways.” He lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers. “My powers don’t do much here, remember?”

Finn didn’t look entirely convinced, but the mention of Luke seemed to have relaxed him somewhat. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, I still can’t leave. I don’t have a ship, and even if I did, I couldn’t fly it.” He grimaced, and Kylo recalled his clumsy escape from the  _ Supremacy _ .

“Believe me, I remember,” he said. That earned him a glare, but he only smirked in reply. “You do have a ship, though. Or, Luke does. Did. It might still work.”

Shaking his head, Finn reclaimed his seat upon the rock. “I’m not leaving until I see her, and I’m not seeing her until Luke says it’s okay.”

Kylo rolled his eyes and turned to go. “Do what you want,” he said. He moved silently back into the temple, trying to ignore the way it seemed to drain him as he stepped inside. He slumped back against the wall, regarding Luke and Rey through hooded eyes.

“What is he even doing here?” Rey asked, tilting her head towards Kylo.

“You know ‘he’ can hear you,” Kylo muttered.

Ignoring him, Rey stared solely at Luke.

“He helped me heal you,” Luke said. “He’s had a bit of practice in that area, helped heal me too.” Unconsciously, Luke rubbed at his wrist.

Rey turned disbelieving eyes on Kylo, and he cast his own up to the ceiling. “Don’t give me too much credit,” he said. “I was too young to know what I was doing.”

“Han and Leia did what they could,” Luke said, seemingly oblivious to how tense Kylo became at the mention of their names, “but it helps to have someone who knows how darkness works when you’re dealing with its effects.”

“It would have worked better if we weren’t in this damn temple,” Kylo said.

Luke shrugged apologetically. “I think you did well, considering the circumstances.”

Kylo shrugged off the words. “Your Rebel friend is still lurking around outside,” he told Rey. “He says he won’t even think about leaving until Luke says it’s okay to see you.”

“Finn?” Rey asked, perking up a little. She started to get up, but Luke immediately put a hand up to forestall her.

“You promised,” he reminded her.

Rey subsided, but she didn’t look happy about it. “I want to talk to him,” she said.

Luke got up, fixing her with a look that said he meant business. “Then I’ll go and get him.” To Kylo, he said, “Make sure she stays put.” Then he left the temple, leaving the two of them alone.

The silence was palpable. Kylo didn’t look at Rey. Rey didn’t look at Kylo. She did eventually clear her throat and say something, too quietly for Kylo to hear it.

“What?” he asked.

“I said thank you,” she said, fingers dancing across the mark on her wrist. “You saved my life. Even if it was just because you want to steal from me later.”

Kylo just blinked in response. He didn’t know how sincere her gratitude actually was, so he kept his mouth shut and grunted in acknowledgement, nothing more. Thankfully, the silence only had so much time to turn awkward before Finn walked in.

“Rey?”

She hauled herself into a sitting position and offered him a small wave. “Hey, Finn.”

Not wanting to interrupt, Kylo slipped out of the temple as silently as a shadow.

-

It was good to see Finn, even if Rey was more than a little ashamed of what she had done.

He plonked himself down beside her bed and gave her such a blinding grin she couldn’t help but think he’d forgiven her already. “You look good,” he said. “Better than you did when they brought you in for sure.”

Rey shuddered at the memory of black-streaked veins and dark patches like bruises on her skin. “I should have listened to you,” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” Finn agreed, and if she’d been stronger, she would have swatted him. She would have regretted it a second later when he nudged her with his elbow and said, “I’m really just glad you’re alive, though.”

Rey smiled weakly. “Me too.” She deflated a little, drawing her legs up so she could rest her chin on her knees. “Do you think it would have been better if I had died?” she asked. “So Kylo would have to start looking all over again.” The thought had been niggling at her almost since she’d woken up. She’d been stuck on the fuzzy memory of Kylo snarling at Phasma, telling her he couldn’t steal what she didn’t have. If the light  _ had  _ been burned out of her, he would have been left with nothing. 

“No,” Finn said with no sign of hesitation. “Maybe if he was on his own, but he has the whole Empire behind him. There’s no telling what he could have done if you’d died. He would have had years before the next Warrior was born.”

Humming, Rey decided not to argue the point. She turned her head so her cheek was cushioned on her knees and she could look at Finn. “Kylo said you wouldn’t leave until you’d talked to me,” she said.

Finn nodded. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. He said you were, but…” He trailed off into a shrug. “I don’t trust Kylo Ren.”

Rey couldn’t blame him. He wasn’t very high up on her list of trustworthy people either. Sighing, she said, “You should probably go now, though. So you can tell the Rebellion I’m okay.” She didn’t like the thought of them drifting alone, not knowing whether she was alive or dead, especially Leia. Rey wished she could apologize to her too.

“Yeah.” Finn didn’t sound too happy about it, and Rey reached out to rest her hand on his  shoulder.

“Will you do me a favor? Tell Leia I’m sorry, too. I’m guessing she’s the reason you came here to tell us in the first place,” she said.

Finn patted her hand. “She was. I’ll tell her.”

Exhausted by the brief conversation, Rey reclined back onto the bed. “Thanks,” she mumbled, eyes drifting shut. Already on the edge of sleep, she didn’t even notice when Finn departed.

-

It took weeks for Rey to regain her strength. After a few days, she was able to sit up for most of the day. It made her restless, but every time she attempted to stand, she collapsed into Luke’s arms, which was more embarrassing than simply sitting still. Eventually, however, she was able to regain her feet and take a few tentative steps on her own. She could go further with Luke’s help, and they took to pacing around the temple.

Every few days, Kylo checked to make sure the moon dust wasn’t getting worse. He passed his hands over her, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration as he sought out the veins of poison threaded through her. He never touched her, but something about the movement still felt strangely intimate to Rey. She was always relieved when it was over and she could concentrate on something more physical.

As her body healed, Rey turned more and more to thoughts about her powers. Luke had said they would be limited, but the urge to find exactly where those limits were grew by the day. Whenever she asked Luke to teach her again, however, he refused.

She wasn’t ready, he said. Maybe in a few days, when she was stronger. It was always a few days.

Rey longed to take matters into her own hands, but the last time she’d done that, she’d gotten herself captured and poisoned beyond repair, so instead she sat and sulked. Or walked and sulked. Or ran and sulked. Sulking was better when she was moving, if only to prove that she really was recovering.

One day, after yet another rejection from Luke to test her powers, she went for a run up one of the nearby mountains. It pushed her, but she welcomed the burn in her muscles and her lungs. This, at least, she could appreciate. By the time she reached the top of path, she was sweating and out of breath. She bent over, hands resting on her knees, and sucked in a few deep breaths.

A shape moved in the corner of her eye. Immediately, she straightened up, fists at the ready. The shape resolved into Kylo, and she relaxed. Which was strange enough in itself, but she’d gotten used to his presence as time had passed. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” he replied. He was dressed in some of Luke’s old clothes; the robes were a little too short for him, stopping halfway down his calves, but he couldn’t wear his Empire uniform all the time.

Rey tried unsuccessfully to hide a smirk behind her hand, and Kylo scowled at her.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” she said. She sat down in the grass and then lay back, stretching her tired limbs.

Kylo sat nearby, a fair bit of distance between them, neither of them looking at the other, both very aware of the other’s presence.

It was a strange stalemate they were in. Rey couldn’t fight him without her powers. He couldn’t steal her light in her own stronghold, nor could he return to the Empire empty-handed. So he stayed, and she stayed, and things moved neither forward nor backward.

Rey eyed Kylo, who was still steadfastly not looking at her, and cleared her throat. “Are you going to go away?” she asked.

“I was here first, so I wasn’t planning on it,” he said.

Rey sat up and crossed her legs. “Okay. Then you can at least make yourself useful and make sure I don’t kill myself.” She had just enough time to catch Kylo’s surprised face turning her way before she closed her eyes.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Concentrating.” She cracked open one eye and glared at him. “Or trying to.” She waited to see if he would say anything more, but when he didn’t, she let her eyes close again. She reached for the light embedded in her soul. It had gotten easier to access it, partly, Rey suspected, because of their healing sessions. They had forced her to attune herself to the power inside her, and now she was far more familiar with it.

She coaxed it out until she was certain she was glowing. She could sense Kylo leaning closer and took that as confirmation. One corner of her mouth twitched into a satisfied smile. It was easier now to keep herself under control, and, eyes still closed, she turned her palm to the sky. In her mind, she pictured what Luke had pulled from her that first day, the spinning globe of light she’d been so impressed by. Slowly, she spun ribbons of light together into a shape that mostly resembled a circle.

When Rey opened her eyes, she was almost surprised to see it actually there, hovering inches above her palm. Her eyes found Kylo’s, the light glimmering between them.

Then Kylo’s expression turned grim, just as familiar agony ripped through Rey. The sphere vanished, eaten up by the darkness coursing through her. A choked sound fell from her lips. She tried desperately to stop it, but she didn’t know how. The bitter taste of panic flooded her mouth—and then Kylo was there.

He moved without thinking, taking Rey’s hand in one of his, fingers tracing up the black path of her veins. His eyes were narrowed, and his lips moved, whispering something too low for Rey to make out.

As his hand skimmed further up her arm, her pain began to subside and her panic to dissipate. When he pulled away, all traces of the darkness were gone.

Rey started to thank him, but something caught her attention, and instead she grabbed at his wrist.

“Wha — ” Kylo started to ask, but he trailed off when he saw what she’d spotted. The small crescent moon on his wrist pulsed with silver light.

“What’s going on up here?” Luke asked, snapping the two of them out of their shocked stupor.

Rey dropped Kylo’s hand like it had burned her, and the mark on his wrist instantly reverted to black.

Kylo was still staring at it like he expected it to flare up again at any moment.

Rey jumped up, nudging Kylo with her foot until he finally tore his eyes away from the mark. “Nothing’s going on,” she said. “I just went for a run.”

Luke regarded Rey for a long moment before turning to Kylo. “And you?”

“I like to hang out up here,” he muttered.

Eyes still shadowed with suspicion, Luke finally jerked his head back in the direction of the Sun Temple. “You should probably get some rest after a run like that, Rey.”

With a low murmur of agreement, she began to follow Luke back down the path. As she went, she glanced back over her shoulder at Kylo.

His eyes burned as they met hers.

**Author's Note:**

> come chat with me on [tumblr](https://reyofdarkness.tumblr.com/)!


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